By Minhaj Uddin and Prabir Das
Jun 23 2017 (The Daily Star, Bangladesh)

Hill cutting for illegal establishments is one of the key reasons behind the recent series of landslides in Rangamati, the worst in a decade that killed at least 120 people.

Locals say, the green hills of Rangamati have been clawed all over and the trees, that keep the soil together, cleared to make pieces of flat land for building houses.

Chakma King Debashish Roy, the representative of an ethnic community, says such construction is much different from the settlements of indigenous communities, which does not affect mountains.

“Such construction and engineering practices are not viable and sustainable in the hills,” he said.

Even after the series of landslide, The Daily Star has found numerous such settlements on the walls of clawed mountains in Rangamati, which experts say are in threat.

What is more interesting is the fact that most of these land are government lands, occupied illegally. Watch video to learn more:

This story was originally published by The Daily Star, Bangladesh