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Over 50,000 people still risk lives on hill slopes

Nur Uddin Aiamgir
Over 50,000 people are still living on the dangerous slopes of hills in the port city risking their lives to fall an easy prey to landslide in the upcom-ingrainyseason.
Experts fear that callousness of the authorities concerned and lack of awareness among the landlords and tenants living on the slopes may repeat devastating landslides that claimed 127 lives on June 11 in 2007 and 11 lives on August 18 last year.
Sources said over one lakh disadvantaged people, mainly selfemployed, garment workers and day labourers, live in some 1814 slums in the city.
Of them, over 50,000 people live in the slums on the risky and treacherous slopes or bottom of hills providing cheaper shelter.
Some unscrupulous and influential people developed these slums on the hill slopes and foothills of Bangladesh Railway, Chittagong Wasa, Public Works Department and Police department.
They developed the slums for narrow gains taking safety of lives
hardly into consideration to leave the residents at serious risks of falling easy victims to landslides, especially during the torrential rains.
Several committees were immediately formed to compensate and rehabilitate the affected families from the risky areas to safer places.
Neither the affected families nor the residents of foothills could be rehabilitated till date when the mostly effected areas got covered with risky structures again.
While visiting the affected area of Matijharna at Lalkhan Bazar on Monday, concrete structures and semi-pucca houses were seen have replaced the thatched ones that were damaged in landslides in 2007 and 2008 and people are still living there.
When asked Mohammad Idris, a resident of the Matijharna hill slopes, said they get houses at cheaper rate here to live with their limited income.
Mohammad Selim, a resident of the Kusumbag area where seven people were killed in 2007, echoed Idris saying the rented house in such a lower rate is rare in the city areas. Ue said, "We notice huge road accidents everyday, would we stop running vehicles on the road?”
Local Woman Ward Councillor Monwara Begum Moni, who was involved in evacuating the people of the risky' slopes last year, said the number of people has increased in the risky foothills due to inaction of the authorities concerned.
The Landslide Rehabilitation and Implementation Committee formed last year is yet to come up with measures that can help evacuate the people or rehabilitate them elsewhere permanently.
Researcher Prof Dr Jahangir Alam of Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (Cuet) said they have identified 12 risky hills in the city.
They include Pari Pahar, AK Khan Pahar, several hills at Lalkhan Bazar, Chittagong City Corporation hill, PWD hill and hills of Bangladesh Railway, he said, adding that 10 to 15 thousand people are living in dangerous slopes of the hills.
“Since the rainy season is nearer and no time to protect the people from the potential landslides, the
authorities only can evacuate them from risky slopes after motivation," said Prof Jahangir, who is conducting a research titled "Landslide Risk Assessment of Chittagong Metropolitan Area.
When asked the Landslide Rehabilitation and Management Committee Member Secretary Jafar Alam, also Chittagong additional deputy commissioner (revenue), told The Daily Star that they sent a project proposal to the Food and Disaster Management Ministry in mid 2008 for rehabilitation the people to a land at Jahan Ali Hat in the city.
“But, we are yet to get any response from the ministry," he said, adding that as long as the residents are not aware of the problem would be impossible to solve.
He said the agencies concerned like Department of Environment, Chittagong City Corporation, Chittagong Development Authority, Public Works Department, Bangladesh Railway, Wasa and police department should work together to get rid of the problem.