Three fined for cutting hills in Ctg

Three were fined Tk 1.15 lakh for cutting hills in the port city’s different areas after a joint drive by the Department of Environment (DoE) and different government agencies today.
The drive began at 10:00am.
The team, led by Dr Fahmida Khanam, additional secretary of the environment ministry, visited Akbar Shah’s Lake City residential area and found evidence of hill cutting and instructed DoE officials to file cases and serve notice to hill cutters.
Then, the team caught two culprits while cutting hills in the Harbatali area of the Akbar Shah area in the city.
After an on-spot hearing, a mobile court led by Arafat Siddique, assistant commissioner (land) of the Kattali circle of Chattogram, fined them Tk 15,000 for cutting hills. One of them, Abdul Kader, was fined Tk 5,000, while another, Parul Begum, was fined Tk 10,000.
“The team instructed us to serve notice to hill cutters to join a hearing,” said Robayet Sourav, assistant director of the DoE (Ctg metro office).
The squad also conducted a drive at 116 No Dag, Rupnagar, Emamnagar, and Mirpur residential areas of Akbar Shah and found evidence of hill cutting.
“We were also instructed to file a case against culprits after finding evidence of hill cutting at the Mirpur residential area to construct a road, said Robayet Sourav.
Lastly, another court, led by Kazi Tamjid Ahmed, executive magistrate of DoE, fined a man Tk 1 lakh for cutting hills in the Khulshi area of the city. The convicted is Maidul Islam.
DoE official Robayet said they are preparing to file a case against hill cutters in the Khulshi area.
Mentionable, several syndicates have been cutting hills in the port city since July due to the inactivity of the administration following a countrywide political deadlock.