CMCH cuts hill without DoE clearance to construct burn unit

The Chattogram Medical College Hospital (CMCH) authorities have been illegally cutting a hill in the Goasibagan area on Chatteshwari Road of Chattogram to construct a 150-bed burn unit.

The CMCH did not obtain any clearance from the Department of Environment (DoE) to cut the hills, according to officials familiar with the matter.

The DoE Chattogram Metropolitan Office inspected the site last evening and issued a notice, summoning the CMCH authority to a hearing to explain their actions.

Meanwhile, speaking to The Business Standard, CMCH officials said they were not cutting the hill but "sliding" it to prevent landslides.

Violating law

Speaking about the inspection, Sonia Sultana, director of the DoE Chattogram Metropolitan Office, told TBS that the CMCH authorities had applied to cut the hill for constructing a specialised burn unit funded by the Chinese government.

"They have submitted the Terms of Reference (ToR). But they are yet to receive clearance. Cutting the hill before approval from the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change is a violation [of law]. We instructed them to stop the operation immediately," she said.

Sultana further explained, "According to the Environment Conservation Act 2010, the government can permit hill cutting for the greater national interest.

"However, while the hospital authorities' application is under review, they have no right to cut the hill. A notice has been issued for a hearing where they will have to explain their actions. Further steps will be taken after the hearing."

'Sliding' the hill to prevent landslides, not cutting it: CMCH

When contacted over the matter, CMCH Director Brig Gen Mohammad Taslim Uddin rejected the allegations of hill cutting.

"We are not cutting the hill. We are using the latest technology to slide the hill and prevent landslides. The hill was steep, and a landslide occurred there last year," he explained.

He, however, admitted that they were yet to receive a clearance from the DoE to cut the hills.

Further clarifying the process, he said the burn unit will be constructed at the foothill, but the Chinese construction company is unwilling to take risks related to landslides.

"To prevent such risks, they have introduced this technology, reinforcing the hill with RCC pillars and planning to plant grass and trees later for stabilisation," the CMCH director said.

"The contractor is not ready to begin construction until the hill is stabilised. Since the project timeline is tight, we sought verbal permission from DoE officials and began sliding the hill to prepare the site," he stated.

He added, "We have submitted the ToR, and the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report is nearly ready for submission. I have already contacted the health adviser, who has discussed the matter with the environment adviser. We expect to receive DoE clearance soon."

'100 trees felled, half of the hill razed'

Environmentalists, in the meantime, have criticised the CMCH's move, stating it is unnecessary to set up a burn unit by cutting the hill.

The burn unit could be built at an alternative site without damaging the hill, they said.

Atiqur Rahman, general secretary of People's Voice, an organisation advocating for hill conservation, said, "We can construct many burn units with sufficient funds, but we cannot recreate a hill. Hills are nature's gift to protect the environment. Destroying them for development will make the city uninhabitable."

According to locals, the CMCH authorities initially began cutting the hill in April last year but stopped following protests from activists. Recently, however, the hill-cutting activities resumed, causing renewed concerns.

A visit to the site today (6 January) revealed that a more than 100-foot-high hill within the CMCH staff quarter boundary, which was covered in greenery a year ago, has been razed on one side, while the other side remains intact.

Approximately 1 lakh cubic feet of sand has already been removed from the hill, said locals, adding that the hill cutting has been ongoing for the past 15 days with no intervention from the local administration or the DoE.

Monira Parveen Ruba, Chattogram Divisional Coordinator of the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association, said, "Half of the hill has already been razed, and more than 1,000 trees have been felled. This is a serious concern for the biodiversity of the area, which once had dense greenery."

"We visited the site along with DoE officials, where the CMCH director was present. The DoE directed the CMCH authorities to stop further hill cutting, and the director agreed," Ruba added.

In the past 32 years, 120 out of 200 hills in Chattogram have disappeared, according to a study by SM Sirajul Haque, a former professor at Chittagong University's Institute of Forestry and Environment.

The total hill area in the city has declined by 57%, dropping from 32.37 square kilometres in 1976 to just 14.2 square kilometres in 2008, with most destruction occurring in Bayezid, Khulshi, Panchlaish, Kotwali, and Pahartali.