15,000 illegal dwellings on Cox’s Bazar hilltops

Over 1 lakh people are illegally living on about 600 acres of the forest department’s hilly land worth about Tk 700 crore under serious threats of landslide during heavy rains.
These floating people from across the country live in around 15,000 houses in Baidderghona, Pahartali, Ghonapara, Light House Para, Bus Terminal and other areas in the town.
As heavy shower starts, the people living in these hills find themselves in serious troubles. Many, especially women and children, get injured as they trip over while walking on the muddy and slippery roads.
Besides, many houses are destroyed and people are killed in landslides caused by torrential rain.
In a continuous downpour for four days from July 28 at least 11 houses were destroyed in several incidents of landslide and 20 women and children were injured.
The house of Mohammad Alamgir in Baidderghona in the town was destroyed by heavy rain on July 28. Four people including Alamgir and his wife Amena were seriously injured.
Alamgir said if the government made arrangements for their living elsewhere they would not live there risking their lives.
Last year 21 people including women and children were killed and 300 others injured in four separate landslides.
Acting mayor of Cox’s Bazar municipality Sarwar Kamal says attempts are on to shift the people living in seriously risky conditions on the hills.
But it is difficult to shift them without making alternative accommodation for them, he adds.
He says 35 people died in last five years when their houses were destroyed in hill slides caused by heavy rainfall.
Ali Ahmed, 45, of Kutubdia who lives on a hilltop in Ghonapara, said about 300 children living on these hills go to different schools in the town. Academic activities of these children remained suspended due to heavy rain, he added.
During a visit to the hills, women were seen coming down with the help of a thick rope to collect drinking water and returning to their houses with filled-up pitchers in their hands.
Many slip in the process and suffer serious injuries.
A survey revealed that several thousand people from different areas of the country have been occupying about 600 acres of the forest land worth about Tk 700 crore for years and living in risky conditions building houses there.
Many are cutting big hills, building houses there and selling land at high prices. Some others are erecting low-value sheds and renting out those to the floating people.
The forest department filed cases against more than 200 grabbers but could not evict them yet.

Courtesy of The Daily Star