A landslide, one year on - landslides in Bangladesh
A landslide, one year on Faizul Khan Tanim visits the site of the landslide disasters in Chittagong last year, where human habitation has once again developed, and finds out why little has been done to avoid another impending disaster photo by Momena Jalil It has been one year since that horrifying night on June 11, when in Chittagong, torrential rains for over 24 hours triggered a series of landslides burying hillside localities and claiming at least 127 lives. Most of the victims were asleep when large chunks of earth rolled down the hillocks and buried thatched and mud houses near Chittagong cantonment. The rest were killed in Pahartali, Devarpar, Kusumbag, Nasirabad and Chittagong university areas. At the time, environmental experts, city planners and concerned authorities of the government pointed to relentless cutting of hills as the major reason behind landslides adding that 22 of the city canals were either filled up or encroached, which caused the unprecedented water lo...