Authorities have started a drive in Chattogram to evict houses built illegally on the slopes of high-risk hills to save people from possible landslides during the upcoming monsoon.
The drive was launched on Monday by the district administration and department of environment of Chattogram.
It started at 11:00am from the Bayezid section of the city's Fauzdarhat-Bayezid Link Road.
Six magistrates conducted the operation in three groups.
Assistant Commissioner (Land) Mamnoon Ahmed Anik told the media that all illegal structures on both sides of Bayezid Link Road were being demolished.
“A simultaneous eviction drive led by six magistrates is underway in Kattali, Hathazari and Sitakunda sections of Link Road,” he added.
A large number of police, Rapid Action Battalion, and Fire service and Civil Defence members were deployed in the operation.
According to the Chattogram district administration, around 835 families are living illegally in 17 high-risk hills of the port city.
Besides, 18 new hills were cut during the construction of Chittagong Development Authority’s Fauzdarhat-Bayezid Link Road.
The first day of the eviction drive saw the removal of the illegal establishments which crept up on these hills.
Environmentalists say the number of people living at risk in the various hills of Chattogram is around one lakh.
From 2007 to 2020, more than 200 people lost their lives in landslides in Chattogram.
The highest landslide fatalities occurred in 2007 when 127 people died on June 11.
Besides, 30 people were killed in a 2017 landslide.
