10,000 people at risk on Sylhet hills
S A Shofiee :
Over 10,000 people continue to live precariously on the slopes of risky hills in Sylhet, despite repeated warnings from authorities. In the past five years alone, at least 20 people have lost their lives in landslides triggered by heavy rain and soil erosion. As the monsoon intensifies, experts warn that the combination of unplanned settlements, deforestation, and unstable terrain poses a growing threat to human life in the region.
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.
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.
After visiting the spots, it found 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.
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.
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.
As per the sources 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.
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.
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.