SIFAYET ULLAH, Ctg

The Hill Agricultural Research Station in Khagrachhari has allegedly razed part of a hill in Sadar upazila without obtaining permission from the Department of Environment (DoE).

The DoE, having found evidence of hill cutting by the government agency, has sent a letter seeking an explanation.

Officials of the research station have denied the allegation, claiming they only removed soil from the slope of the hill that had collapsed last year.

“I visited the spot and observed that a portion of a hill has been razed illegally. I then wrote to the Hill Agricultural Research Station asking for its response over razing the hill without DoE permission,” said Mohammed Hasan, assistant director of DoE in Khagrachhari.

Under the Bangladesh Environment Preservation Act 1995, amended in 2000, razing a hill without DoE approval is illegal. First-time violators may face up to two years in prison, a fine of Tk 2 lakh, or both. Repeat offenders may be sentenced to up to 10 years or fined Tk 10 lakh, or both.

A visit to the site inside the research station’s grounds found that a road had been repaired near the hill, while a portion of the hill had been razed and the soil used for land filling inside the station.

Altaf Hossain, chief scientific officer of the research station, said they only removed soil from the site to repair an internal road.

“Soil from the hill had collapsed on the road, hampering our activities. We only cleared the soil to repair the road. We did not cut the hill for any other purpose,” he said.

He said they had been planting trees for years to protect hills from destruction.

“We are working to restore barren hills by planting trees, so this is a misunderstanding. We are working to resolve it,” he said.

Srirup Mazumder, assistant director of DoE (Chattogram region), said steps would be taken after receiving field reports from the district office.

“No one can raze hills without permission. We have to take action as per the law,” he said.