Land grabbing in the hills

We are deeply disturbed by the news that a housing society has flattened 150 acres of hilly land in Kolatoli of Cox's Bazar town. What is perplexing is that the housing estate has no Department of Environment or deputy commissioner's approval for the project, and yet we find that plots have been allotted and building has commenced. The Daily Star has been covering extensively the issue of illegal cutting of hills by unscrupulous real estate agents with disastrous results. Looking beyond the damage to biodiversity, we have seen the death count soar to more than 143 in the latest landslides that affected Rangamati, Chittagong, Bandarban and Cox's Bazar. Whenever there is a report in the media we find a flurry of activity in the administration about why and how such business entities get round established laws.

One cannot forget that Bangladesh is a hugely populated country and land is a scarce commodity. Environmental laws are there for a reason. Natural resources, such as land, need to be protected from misuse and the hills are protected by law for the sake of both safety of people and the ecology. Over the last two decades, we have been silent witnesses to the indiscriminate pollution of our rivers and their encroachment. And now the same is happening with the hills and hillocks of Cox's Bazaar and the Hill Tracts. Unless the government takes a tough stance on what is clearly a violation of set rules, regulations and laws, there will be no let up by powerful interest groups that will keep bending the laws in the absence of their enforcement, and entire communities will continue to pay the price with their lives.