Water motor allegedly used for hill cutting in Ctg's Latifpur forest
“The owner of the hill will be investigated and legal action will be taken against him,” said the DoE
Hills in Chattogram's Latifpur forest area have allegedly been cut down using water motors, said the Department of Environment (DoE) today.
The incident took place at 'Loittaghona' in Mirpur next to the Shapla residential area, said officials of the environment department after inspecting the site on Tuesday (6 November).
Tipped off that a hill owned by a man named Abdul Malek was worn down, the department officials went to the spot and saw a part of a 70-feet steep hill in the forest had already been cut down.
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Robayet Sourav, senior chemist of the Department of Environment, told The Business Standard that no one was found on the scene.
"The owner of the hill will be investigated and legal action will be taken against him."
Monira Parveen, divisional coordinator of the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers' Association (Bela), said the issue of hill cutting is prevalent in Chattogram.
"Whenever we get any news of felling, we inform the Department of Environment and visit the site to help take legal action."
Earlier in August, officials from the Department of Environment and Chattogram district administration conducted a drive at Bangla Bazar in the Bayazid police station area of the city and found that hill razing activities were taking place at night, inside tall tin fences.
An estimated 15,000 square feet of the hill area had already been cut, said officials.
Hill cutting in the port city of Chattogram continues discreetly despite concerns raised by environmentalists and measures taken by local authorities.
