Construction of the hill protection wall with no holes to discharge rainwater and illegal removal of earth supporting the wall by land grabbers caused the tragic wall collapse here in Batali Hill on July 1 that left 17 people dead.

The causes came up in the investigation report made by the five-member committee formed by the district administration after they inspected the spot and talked to the locals.

The committee Convener Md Ehsan E Elahi, also additional deputy commissioner (general) of Chittagong, submitted the three-page report to Deputy Commissioner Foyez Ahmad at the latter's office around 7:00pm yesterday.

Elahi said they recommended formation of an expert technical committee to find whether there was any fault in the wall's technical design, if proper construc-

tion materials were used and to check the report made by the concerned engineer.

The 450 feet long and 30 feet high structure, made in 2009-10, is composed of two parallel walls with a gap in the middle filled with earth. One wall was adjacent to the hill while the other was a few feet away, connected by smaller walls. Around 40 feet of the outer wall collapsed, said the report.

Land grabbers or beneficiaries removed a good portion of earth from the bottom of the wall. Moreover, rainwater collected in the gap and, along with the weight of the earth, caused the collapse, added the report.

OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS

The committee recommended Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) to take exemplary steps against anyone found responsible by the committee's proposed expert committee.

The report recommended punishing the people who illegally set up slums and rent them out after grabbing hili slopes.

It requested CCC and Bangladesh Railway, Batali Hill owners, to shift the people living in the slopes and adjacent to the wall.

It directed all government organisations and individuals owning hills in the city to immediately evacuate people living in the slopes, encircle the hills with barbed wire fencing and to plant trees there.

They were also asked to make a list of the people living on the hill slopes to rehabilitate them with the help of district administration and to take steps in maintaining their respective protection walls.

It recommended taking immediate steps to evacuate people from 12 risky hills identified by a committee formed in 2007 with the then divisional commissioner as the convener.