Chattogram's District Administration has cracked down on a group illegally cutting hills and building settlements in the guise of vegetable farming. On Monday, September 2, Assistant Commissioner (Land) and Executive Magistrate Husain Muhammad led a raid in the hilly Kathal Bagan area of Jalalabad, Khulshi, ward no. 13 of Chattogram City Corporation.
During the operation, officials found widespread hill destruction and makeshift settlements in the secluded area. They also discovered that illegal deep tube wells with submersible pumps were supplying water to over a hundred locations for commercial use.
The Executive Magistrate immediately contacted the Chattogram Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA) and urged them to dismantle the illegal tube wells and stop the unauthorized water business in the hills. District Administration officials believe this illegal trade is a primary reason hill-cutting continues.
Officials from various departments joined the raid, including Md. Shafiqul Islam Khan from the Hill Protection Zone Committee–4, Md. Monir Hossain from the Department of Environment, SI Md. Anwar Hossain from Khulshi Police Station, and Zahed Hossain from the Khulshi Land Office.
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