DoE sues 4 over hill cutting in Cox's Bazar

The Department of Environment (DoE) has filed a case against four people over alleged involvement in hill cutting in the Residential Flat Development Project-1 area of Cox's Bazar Development Authority (CBDA).

DoE Cox's Bazar Office Senior Chemist Md Abdus Salam filed the case with Cox's Bazar Sadar Police Station under the Environment Protection Act on Wednesday (21 February), said Md Rokibuzzaman, officer-in-charge of the police station.

Sheikh Mostahidur Rahman, engineer of the project's contractor company The Engineers and Architecture Limited, and Imran Pathan, site in-charge of the contractor company and two others have been accused in the case.

According to the case statement, the two other accused are the director of the Residential Flat Development Project-1 and the chief executive of Cox's Bazar Development Authority. But their names were not written in the case statement.

The plaintiff, Abdus Salam, could not be reached for a comment over the matter.

According to the case statement, the DoE inspected the project area in the west of Kalatali Bypass Road of Ward No-12 of Cox's Bazar Sadar Municipality and found that a hill was being cut for one week.

Earlier on 19 February, the DoE issued a notice to the CBDA over hill cutting in the Residential Flat Development Project-1 area.

On 20 February, the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) issued a notice to nine people, including secretaries of three ministries, to take necessary measures toward stopping the cutting of hills in the district.

Secretaries of the environment, forest and climate Change ministry, land ministry, housing and public works ministry; divisional commissioner of Chattogram, DoE director general, the CBDA chairman, deputy commissioner of Cox's Bazar, superintendent of Cox's Bazar Police and the DoE director were made respondents to the notice.