Massive Landslide in Motijhorna, Chittagong

The Chittagong region of Bangladesh is highly susceptible to landslides triggered by intense rainfall on hill slopes altered by human interference, mainly due to soil erosion, adverse hydrological conditions and unplanned land use pattern.

In a catastrophic event on 11 June 2007, intense and prolonged precipitation caused mudslides that buried shanties at the foothills near Chittagong Motijhorna in Lalkhan Bazaar. It killed at least 91 persons including 59 children, injured 150 and affected 1,926 families. Many residents were rendered homeless and took refuge in local mosques.

Army personnel and fire brigade responded to the emergency call and carried out joint rescue operations. Massive relief and rehabilitation work had been carried out under the auspices of the administration, which provided food, clothes and other logistics to the distressed people. Police, military, fire fighters and volunteers struggled to locate survivors, but heavy rainfall, ongoing flooding and lack of equipments hampered the rescue efforts. People living on nearby hill slopes in and around the city were evacuated because of fear of additional mudslides.

Professor of Geography and Environmental studies in Chittagong University Shahidul Islam explained, The only reason for Mondays mud slide in the Motijhorna area is cutting hills indiscriminately. We were warning about this risk for decades, and this event has proved our fears.

 Following a heavy downpour, a landslide, occurred on June 11, 2007, killing two people in Motijhorna. Another one claimed seven lives at Kusumbagh, in Lalkhan.

On that day, garment worker Fatema, 35, and her daughter Kulsum, 17, were buried alive when the eastern side of Tank Hill collapsed on their house. Despite recurring landslides in that area, Fatima and Kulsum had refused to leave the place.

Fatimas neighbor had a miraculous escape. Yet, she is still living in Tank Hill, knowing that the place is unsafe.

My observation

The entire hill slope is teeming with illegal dwellings. But preparations are on to level the slope further to build more houses, as part of hazardous and murky ventures that are only likely to surface when landslides cause loss of lives. I thing some measure should be taken like as

1) Landslide vulnerability assessment and zoning, taking into consideration different types of land use/ land cover.
2) City planning must adhere to the recommended land zoning and relevant policy and legal provisions.
3) Relocation of the foothill slums to safe places.
4) Compliance of existing legal provisions. landslide-related hazards can be reduced if hill cutting is prohibited.