Sifayet Ullah

Although more than 120 hills have vanished from the port city in four decades, no one has been put behind the bar for the offence in the last 20 years, thanks to legal loopholes.

Scenes of tilted buildings, residents being evacuated and owners facing financial losses, have become a regular occurrence in some areas of the port city.

A hill is being cut using an excavator, while a portion of another one has already been levelled -- this was what this correspondent saw during a visit to Sheikh Russel Aviary and Eco Park in Chattogram’s Rangunia upazila.

The Rural Electrification Board (Palli Bidyut) and the forest department are at loggerheads over connecting power cables through a forest reserve in Chattogram’s Fatikchhari upazila.

Bangladesh Railway started rebuilding Chowdhuryhat and Katirhat stations on the Chattogram-Nazirhat route in 2019. After four years, the construction is only halfway done, and the stations remain closed, causing daily difficulties for hundreds of passengers.

Encroachers have destroyed 95 acres of the Gohira mangrove forest in Chattogram’s Anwara upazila and turned the area into fish enclosures.

The residents of the southern parts of Chattogram district will finally have access to pure drinking water from December, thanks to the Bhandal Jhuri Water Supply Project.

Shikalbaha Canal, a major waterbody in south Chattogram directly connected to Karnaphuli and Sangu rivers, is struggling to survive amid rampant pollution.

Ruins of an ancient settlement, likely that of a renowned Buddhist vihar (educational institution), has been excavated in Biswamura area of Chattogram’s Karnaphuli upazila recently.

Engine boats are being operated in Mahamaya Lake, the second largest man-made lake in Bangladesh, posing a threat to the ecological diversity of the waterbody.

A section of Tulatoli Reserve Forest under Chunati range of Chattogram South Forest Division is being razed illegally to construct structures including houses.

Encroachers have reoccupied most of the railway land at CRB’s Tulatoli area in Chattogram city and built structures illegally, turning the scenic hilly area into a slum.

A portion of protected forest land in Sarta area under Chattogram (north) forest division in Fatikchhari upazila has been occupied illegally.

A pond in Chattogram city’s Mohora area is counting its breaths as builders continue to fill it up for the construction of a five-storey building.

Over 3,000 illegal structures have been constructed on nine hills owned by Bangladesh Railway in various parts of the port city, violating the law and endangering the hills.

Defying law, shipbreakers in Chattogram are breaking scrap vessels without obtaining clearance from the Department of Environment (DoE), putting the environment at risk. 

Youth's ambitious pursuits end with tragic demise

Nipa’s life was never easy. At the age of eight, she was abandoned by both her parents, who went into hiding to avoid having to repay their increasing debts, leaving her and her baby sisters behind.

Chattogram city dwellers will have to bear the nuisance of sewage pollution in the Karnaphuli and Halda rivers even longer, as the completion deadline for the Sewerage Treatment Plant-1 project has been extended.

Unloading of goods from larger vessels at the outer anchorage of Chattogram Port remains suspended due to rough seas since Friday, while trade at the Khatunganj-Chaktai wholesale hub has dropped significantly.