Recurring deaths in Chattogram landslides, where the gaps are

The threat of landslides was imminent. The Meteorological Department had issued early warnings and the administration was well aware that persistent heavy rain could trigger major disasters in the risky hills of Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar and the Hill Tracts. Yet, they failed to evacuate people from these hazardous slopes in time.

The relentless rain over the past few days has led to at least 29 deaths, including 14 children, across four districts. Almost all of the victims lived in vulnerable settlements built along the foothills or slopes.

Cox’s Bazar recorded the highest death toll with 19 fatalities, 13 of whom were residents of Rohingya camps. Five deaths were reported in Bandarban, four in Chattogram and one in Rangamati.

The administration says announcements were made over loudspeakers urging people in high-risk areas to move to shelters. However, experts argue disaster management cannot be limited to warnings after rainfall begins. They emphasise that early evacuation, rehabilitation, hill conservation and long-term preparedness are the only real ways to minimize the loss of life.

Mohammad Kamal Hossain, supernumerary professor at the Institute of Forestry and Environmental Sciences at the University of Chittagong, said the administration becomes active only after disasters occur. He noted that simply making announcements during heavy rain cannot save lives. That is not a lasting solution. Risk-prone settlements should be relocated, residents rehabilitated and hills made safe before the rainy season begins, he said.

Cox’s Bazar recorded the highest casualties in the recent landslides. Out of the 19 people killed in the district, 13 were residents of Rohingya camps. This brings the total number of landslide-related deaths in these camps to 39 over the last six years.

Currently, more than 1.4 million registered Rohingyas reside in 33 camps across Ukhiya and Teknaf. In the last year and a half, an additional 152,000 Rohingyas have sought refuge in Bangladesh due to persecution in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. Many of these newly arrived families have built shelters by cutting into hills or on hazardous slopes.

According to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), 95 landslides occurred in the Rohingya camps during the continuous rainfall from 4 July to 9 July. These incidents left 4,307 people homeless and affected another 26,119 in various ways.

Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC) Mohammed Mizanur Rahman noted that approximately 80 per cent of the houses in the Rohingya camps are built on hilltops, slopes or foothills. He estimated that between 100,000 and 150,000 people still live in high-risk areas, while authorities have managed to relocate 15,000 to 20,000 people. He said most of those killed in the latest landslides were newly arrived Rohingya refugees.

The Meteorological Department had forecasted heavy to very heavy rainfall for the southeastern region starting last Saturday. Since then, the continuous downpour has seen 1,169 mm of rain recorded in Chattogram and over 700 mm in Cox’s Bazar by 6:00 am Friday.

District administration officials described such intense rainfall in such a short period as ‘rare.’

However, experts believe there was a significant lack of preparedness in identifying and evacuating vulnerable people before the rain began. The Cox’s Bazar district administration admitted they have no updated survey on exactly how many people are currently living on hazardous slopes.

The situation in Chattogram is similar. According to district administration records, there are 6,555 hazardous or illegal settlements across 26 hills in the city. However, this data is three years old. Environmental organisations suspect the number of vulnerable settlements has increased significantly during this time.

In Bandarban, the district administration estimates that 1,468 families are at risk of landslides. S M Hasan, the Additional Deputy Commissioner, said regular awareness campaigns are being conducted to urge people to move to safer locations. He added that if residents still refuse to leave, they are being relocated with the assistance of the police and army.

Nonetheless, the ADC admitted that the only permanent solution is the comprehensive rehabilitation of these vulnerable families elsewhere.

Landslides are a recurring disaster in the hilly regions of Bangladesh. Following the catastrophic landslide of 11 June, 2007, which claimed 127 lives, a probe committee issued 36 recommendations.

These included long-term measures such as relocating and rehabilitating vulnerable residents, stopping illegal hill-cutting, preventing new settlements on slopes, afforestation of bald hills and ensuring the accountability of the government agencies that own the land.

A decade later, in June 2017, another 168 people were killed in landslides across Rangamati, Bandarban and Chattogram. The second probe committee issued 35 similar recommendations.

Despite two major disasters in ten years, neither the nature of the problem nor the proposed solutions had changed.

However, the ground reality remains grim. According to district administration data, 666 families were living dangerously across 11 hills in Chattogram city in 2014. By now, that number has surged to 6,555 settlements across 26 hills.

Environmental groups believe the number of illegal dwellings has increased even further since the last survey in 2023.

Chattogram Divisional Commissioner Md Ziauddin stated that while authorities often use force to move people to safety, many return to their homes once the immediate danger passes. He alleged that illegal settlements on the hills are backed by ‘influential quarters.’

Furthermore, he noted that eviction drives are frequently stalled by court injunctions, though he mentioned that the administration works on hill management year-round.

Disaster management experts and environmentalists argue that excessive rainfall is not the sole cause of landslides. Rain merely provides the ‘final push.’ The real risk is built over years of systemic abuse.

The structural integrity of the hills is gradually weakened by illegal hill-cutting that destroys the natural balance of the slopes, widespread deforestation, the construction of settlements along the foothills and the obstruction of natural drainage paths.

When relentless rain eventually hits these compromised hills, water seeps deep into the soil, loosening the bonds between soil particles. At a certain point, the saturated earth can no longer support its own weight, causing entire layers of soil to collapse.

According to experts, disaster preparedness must go beyond simply opening shelters or broadcasting warnings during a storm. It requires a year-round, coordinated effort to maintain an updated registry of vulnerable families, formulate advanced evacuation plans, ensure safe rehabilitation, conserve the hills and prevent the growth of any new illegal settlements.

Experts believe that the recurring loss of life is primarily due to landslides being treated as a ‘seasonal disaster.’ While the administration ramps up its alert systems as the monsoon begins, long-term tasks such as identifying vulnerable populations, rehabilitation, preventing new settlements on slopes and year-round hill management remain stalled.

Gawher Nayeem Wahra, a disaster management expert, told Prothom Alo that the government possesses all the necessary tools such as specific laws, administrative power and the Standing Order on Disaster (SOD). Moreover, the Meteorological Department provided advanced warnings. So why were vulnerable people not moved earlier?

He noted that in the past, former Chattogram District Collector Abdul Mannan had successfully used force to evacuate people from hazardous slopes. He asserted that such action is possible if the administration has the will. Gawher Nayeem Wahra suggested that a certain uncertainty and fear within the field administration may have hindered decision-making this time.

He advised that local government bodies must be empowered to identify, evacuate and safely relocate vulnerable families.