S A Shofiee, Sylhet:
More than 10,000 people are living risky lives in various areas of Sylhet despite landslides in the rains. At least 20 people have lost their lives in landslides in the district in the past five years. Even then, risky settlements are not decreasing. The district administration has already shut down electricity and gas connections to discourage living on hills.
Although the number of deaths due to landslides increases every year, the construction of houses and houses by cutting down hills has not stopped. On the contrary, the number of people living in risky areas is increasing.
Environmental organizations say that the administration only moves when an accident occurs. Moreover, their activity is not seen throughout the year.
At least 61 hills have been cut down in Sylhet in the last one and a half decades. Out of 412 hills and hills in the district, only 351 survive.
According to the District Relief and Rehabilitation Center Sylhet, 386 families in the district are still living in death pits at the foot of the hills. That is why accidents happen every year. And when an accident happens, only a cry for caution is heard. This is what happened this time too after four people died in a landslide in Laxnaband Union of Golapganj Upazila of Sylhet.
It is known that the people living in the death pit spend their days next to the mound when it rains, but spend the night in other people’s houses. They think that the mound will not collapse during the day, or they can quickly leave the scene. Even though the adults have this mindset, small children and the elderly are at risk.
Deaths are happening frequently due to landslides in Sylhet. Every year, people are killed in landslides, but the risk of living at the foot of the mounds does not stop. The role of the administration in this regard is also questionable.
There is no official list of how many people live at the foot of the hills and mounds in Sylhet. There is only a family account.
It is known that influential groups build houses at the foot of the mounds to cut or occupy the mounds and rent them to the landless at low rent. Many families are living in a death pit happily due to low rent. Along with this, houses are being built by cutting down hills and changing the grade. As a result, the balance of the environment is being destroyed. Whenever there is continuous rain, there are reports of landslides in Sylhet. Although 386 families are living in risky conditions at the foot of these risky hills and hills, no initiative has been observed to evacuate them yet.
According to the information of the District Relief and Rehabilitation Center Sylhet, 169 out of 279 hills and hills in Sylhet are risky. Among them, 7 families live at the foot of 5 hills in Golapganj Municipality, 88 families live near 71 hills in various unions of the upazila, 9 families live on 9 hills in Beanibazar Upazila, 3 families live on 1 hill in Kanaighat Upazila, 3 families live on 1 hill out of a total of 75 hills in Kanaighat Upazila, 38 families live on 12 hills in Ghilachhara Union of Fenchuganj Upazila, 6 families live on 1 hill in Bishwanath Upazila, a total of 70 families live on 25 hills in Khadimnagar of Sylhet Sadar Upazila, a total of 39 families live on 15 hills in Khadimpara, and 125 families live on 20 hills in Tukerbazar.
However, there are a total of 27 hills, including 9 hills in Zakiganj of Sylhet and 1 hill in East Jaflong of Gowainghat. It is also known that these are not inhabited.
Every year, heavy rains in Sylhet soften the soil of various hills and mountains, and landslides cause minor and major accidents, sometimes causing major tragedies.
It has been found that at least fifty deaths have been reported in Sylhet division in the last 10 years due to landslides. Environmentalists and experts are mainly blaming the cutting of hills and mountains for these incidents. Even then, hill and mountain cutting does not stop in Sylhet.
On Saturday (June 1), four members of a family were killed in a landslide due to heavy rains in Golapganj Upazila of Sylhet.
On June 10 last year, three members of the same family were killed and buried in a landslide in the Chamelibhag residential area of ​​Majortila in Sylhet metropolis. Three more were injured. The deceased were Aga Karim Uddin (31), his wife Shammi Akhter Ruji (25) and their child Nafji Tanim. A young man named Hunda lost his life in a landslide in the same place in 1997.
Meanwhile, although landslides and hills occur in Sylhet district every monsoon season, people live at their feet at risk. As a result, deaths due to landslides and hills occur every year in Sylhet. There were not many people in the hills and hills in various places in Sylhet district including the metropolis a few years ago, but now these areas have become densely populated.
After investigation, it was learned that several hundred families are living at risk at the foot of various hills in Howladerpara, Akhalia, Pirmahalla Brahminshasan Jahangirnagar, Tarapur Tea Garden and Baluchar, Bimanbar Road, Khadimpara, Khadimnagar, Jonaki, Islampur Majortila, and Monglirpar areas of Sylhet city. In addition, thousands of people are living at risk on the foothills and hills in Jaintapur, Golapganj, Beanibazar, Gowainghat, and Companiganj upazilas.
When I spoke to some people in Jahangirnagar area of ​​Tukerbazar Union No. 6 of Sylhet metropolitan, they said that even though they live at the foothills during the day due to the rain, they go to their relatives’ houses with their families at night. Small children and the elderly are also spending their days at risk of death. Before the monsoon season arrives or even if there is a risk of an accident, the administration does not give instructions. After any accident, the administration does a mike, but before the monsoon season arrives, no warning or billboards containing any kind of risk are put up.
Abdul Karim Kim, general secretary of Bangladesh Environment Movement (BAPA) Sylhet, said, “Hills and hills are being cut down indiscriminately in Sylhet. As a strategy for cutting down hills, settlements are being built for low-income people at the foot of the hills. Thousands of people live in the vicinity of these hills and hills at great risk. As a result, there have been several deaths due to landslides or landslides in recent years.” Abdul Hai, chief coordinator of the environmental organization Save the Heritage and Environment, said, “We conducted a survey about three years ago and found that about 10,000 families were living at risk at the foot of the hills in the district. Now this number will increase even more. Since most of these hills have been cut down for living, the hills have also become weak. As a result, they collapse during the rainy season, causing deaths. This environmental activist believes that the dunes are collapsing every time it rains due to unplanned cutting of dunes, uprooting of trees and risky living at the foot of the dunes.
Deputy Commissioner of Sylhet Muhammad Sher Mahbub Murad said, “Our campaign against cutting dunes is ongoing. In every upazila, dunes are cut. This campaign is conducted every month. We are trying to stop people. Because of this, those who live in risky areas should not be provided with utilities in any way. For example, electricity and water should not be supplied.”
