THE MAN MADE DISASTER IN CHITTAGONG
By- Sk.Enamul haque
It’s a terrifying news that about 126 people were killed and many were injured in the terrible landslides and flood triggered by torrential rain in the different areas of the hilly Chittagong district including the port city about 600 Km south-east from capital Dhaka on the last month.
The media have already termed it as one of the biggest man-made environmental disaster. Environmentalists were giving warning about an impending disaster due to large-scale hill-cutting and
destruction of forests.
In the last thirty years hundreds of hills have been destroyed by those plunders who made fortune by cutting hills. The recent disaster is nothing but the nature’s response to the sordid activities. But who is responsible for this catastrophy? Noted environmentalist Dr. Ainun Nishat says first of all the persons who indulged in the cutting of hills, the others are definitely the Department of Environment and the Chittagong Development Authority (CDA) who did not prevent the destruction of hills and forests. The department and the CDA must give an explanation for their failure to follow up the circular issued in 1982 regarding limits on the numbers of trees to be cut down. With the destruction of hills and a relentless felling of trees, leaving the soil weak and tenuous. The people inhabiting these areas were not informed of the risks they faced due to such activities.
Chittagong was once a beautiful city. But now it has become downright unscenic because of the mutilated hills. A gang of fraudulent people in connivance with influential persons grab government land by cutting hills, building
structures illegally and subsequently letting them to the poor people.
Monday rain was one of the heaviest ones. But experts said in case of a moderate tremor there will be landslides and those structures will become death traps for the dwellers. The Chittagong Development Authority, the city planner, is yet to take action against these illegal structures, while the responsibility of the Directorate of Environment is still merely confined to serving notices against the encroachers. Besides, the concerned departments often lay the blame on each other and point to the need for more effective laws to check encroachment.
Despite frequent occurrences of tragic disasters, there is seen non-integrated national policy to take measures either for prevention of disasters or their management. Due to absence of national disaster management policy, none is to be blamed for the incidents of disasters which cause huge loss of lives and property. Disastrous incidents happen repeatedly as there is no coordination among different development organizations that carry out development work. As soon as such incidents take place, ministries and departments concerned are seen to be up and doing but afterwards things slow down as usual.
With the existing laws it is very difficult to stop. Indiscriminate cutting of hills and construction of illegal structures there ..T.he picturesque Chittagong city once known as the beauty of the East for its hills and seaside location, has lost its chance on the one hand and is facing serious environmental hazards on the other. Encroachment on open hill spaces, coupled with the disappearance of water bodies and wetland in the city, are causing serious ecological imbalances.
These is the summery of the article “explaining the Chittagong Disaster” published in the Financial Express, Dhaka, Bangladesh, recently.