The Crime Desk: The High Court directed the concerned to take necessary measures to preserve all the hills in Habiganj district. This order was given due to the news published in 2017 about mountain cutting. However, ignoring the instructions of the High Court, local influential people are cutting hills and selling red soil at high prices in Chunarughat, Nabiganj, Bahubal, and Madhavpur upazilas of the district. Several written complaints have been given seeking the intervention of the administration. However, no effective measures are being taken due to laxity in the related activities of police stations and administration.
Not only in Habiganj, Chittagong, Rangamati, Cox’s Bazar, Khagrachari, Bandarban, Sylhet, Mymonsingh, etc., the hill-cutting festival is going on in different parts of the country. The administration continues to try to prevent hill cutting by filing lawsuits and fines, but it is not effective. Most environmental cases are settled with fines. Concerned people think that this is one of the reasons for not stopping mountain cutting.
Various organizations, including the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA), have been working for a long time to create awareness at the field level along with the legal fight to prevent mountain cutting. Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) has filed a number of public interest cases seeking to stop hill cutting. The president of the organization is Manzil Morsed, a senior lawyer of the Supreme Court. When asked to know, Manzil Morsed told the media on Tuesday that Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh filed several applications in the High Court to stop hill cutting in Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar, and Sylhet districts. The court ordered to stop the mountain cutting. It is seen that a class of local people are selling soil by cutting the hills in disobedience. It is not possible to protect the mountains due to the lack of effective initiatives by the local administration, including the Department of Environment. He said that an influential group is destroying the natural balance and environment by cutting hills, which must be stopped. But no action was taken against them even though reports were published in the media.
On April 2 this year, the High Court ordered the suspension of mountain cutting in Baghaichhari upazila of Rangamati. After hearing a writ petition, the High Court bench of Justice JBM Hasan and Justice Raziq-al-Jalil gave this order along with the ruling. A writ petition was filed on behalf of Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh in the public interest when the media reported on the mining of Sajek Hill on 29 March. The court, in an interim order, directed the administration to form a monitoring team to ensure that no one can cut hills without the permission of the Environment Department.
On February 11 this year, the High Court ordered to stop the cutting of hill and agricultural land in Chittagong’s Lohagara within 7 days. This order was given to the defendants, including the Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Climate Change, the Director General of the Department of Environment, the Director, the Deputy Commissioner of Chittagong, and the officer-in-charge of Lohagara Police Station. Along with that, the court directed the director of the Chittagong district office of the Department of Environment to take legal action against those involved in hill cutting. After the preliminary hearing in a writ application, Justice Md. The High Court bench of Khasruzzaman and Justice KM Zahid Sarwar gave this order along with the ruling. The concerned lawyer said that after the High Court’s verdict, the administration conducted an operation in the hill. But after a few days, the hill cutting started again. The matter has been brought to the attention of the court.
The High Court directed to take action within four weeks against those involved in cutting hills and hills in Moulvibazar and Habiganj according to Section 15 of the Environment Protection Act. The High Court bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Ahmed Sohel passed the order on February 8, 2023, after hearing a supplementary petition filed by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh. The concerned lawyer said that no action was taken by the administration after the High Court verdict. As a result, mountain cutting continues.
In this context, the senior lawyer of the Supreme Court, Shah Md. Khasruzzaman, told the media that mountains have an important role in maintaining the balance of the natural environment. But in our country, mountains are destroyed indiscriminately. As the environment is damaged, the people living at its foot lost their lives due to mountain collapse. That is why it is everyone’s responsibility to protect the mountains. But the mountains are being cut indiscriminately due to the violence of the powerful and the ignorance of the people. It cannot be stopped in any way. Which has a terrible impact on the environment. He said that the mountain is being cut in disobedience to the order of the High Court. which is a serious crime. Not just fines, but unless criminals are brought to book and punished, mountain cutting will not stop at all.
It is known that the Department of Environment has conducted 560 hill cutting operations in Chittagong from 2011 to 2023. A fine of Tk 85 crore 2 lakh was imposed in these raids. In addition, the Environment Directorate has filed five cases in Chittagong City this year on charges of cutting hills. Last year there were 10 cases. There were 22 cases in 2022. Cox’s Bazar area has the most hills cut in Greater Chittagong. So far, there have been 181 cases for cutting hills here. Out of these, 115 charge sheets were issued. 66 cases are under investigation. A total of 60 cases have been registered in Chittagong district, Rangamati, and Khagrachari. Of these, 52 charge sheets have been filed. Besides, 21 cases have been registered in Bandarban and 9 in Comilla for the crime of cutting hills. In the last four months too, there have been complaints of mountain cutting in these areas.
