Nabiganj Upazila in Habiganj: Hill cutting on amid lax monitoring

Illegal hill cutting has turned rampant in Dinarpur Pargana under Nabiganj upazila of Habiganj district in recent times.
Vested groups have been taking advantage of lax monitoring to raze hills and sell the soil. As such, people living in the foothills are passing days amid concern of landslides.
Locals expressed frustration over the apparent indifference of the administration and Department of Environment.
Dinarpur Pargana, comprising Debpara, Ghaznaipur, and Paniumda unions, is a well-known hilly terrain in the upazila.
An environmental organisation, Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh, filed a writ petition with the High Court in 2015 to stop razing of hills in Dinarpur. The HC responded by issuing a status quo, and directed the deputy commissioner and superintendent of police in Habiganj to take appropriate steps to protect the hills.
However, despite the HC directives, vested groups remained active in cutting hills from different areas of Dinarpur over the years.
Visiting the area recently, this correspondent observed that a large hill in Kandigaon village of Ghaznaipur union was being razed using excavators by a local syndicate led by one Raju Mia since September 12.
The extracted soil was being transported to neighbouring Bangaon village.
The hill cutting activities left the families living near the hill in a precarious situation.
Contacted, Raju Mia claimed that he has been extracting soil from his own land on the hill.
“Since no one is given permission for hill cutting, I did not seek approval from the local administration or environment department in this regard,” he added.
Tofazzal Sohel, general secretary and central executive member of the Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon’s Habiganj unit, said, “The hill razing activities in Habiganj’s Nabiganj, Bahubal, Chunarughat, and Madhavpur upazilas have been going on for years, posing grave threat to the environment.”
Shahen Deluar, assistant commissioner (land) in Nabiganj upazila, said they were collecting information about the hill cutting activities.
“The primary responsibility for filing cases in this connection lies with the DoE. If DoE officials are present, we can conduct mobile court drives under the Environment Act,” he added.
Akhtaruzzaman Tuku, deputy director of DoE in Habiganj, however, said the local land office is responsible for addressing the issue initially by stopping hill cutting activities and taking necessary legal actions.
“I will discuss the matter with assistant commissioner (Land) in the upazila,” he added.