Manmade disaster
Mahmudul Hasan, On e-mail
It is quite usual in the Bangladeshi context to experience such weather at this time of the year. But what happened in Chittagong is not usual. The whole country is shocked to learn about the death toll. This is not acceptable. Chittagong is at the heart of the country's economic activities. It is true that we cannot do much about the natural disaster. But the real reason lies elsewhere. The casualties in Chittagong were not simply an act of God. Rather it had much to do with the way the hills had been cut. Over the years the hills in many parts of the country, and especially those in Chittagong, have been cut for making money through earth trade. This has been done with the authorities concerned turning a blind eye to it or in some cases benefiting from it. If the hills are cut in such an unplanned manner then they can cause disasters like this every time the weather is like it has been for the past few days. This is the major reason for the high death toll. The people concerned must be brought to book at once and we must not repeat the same mistake.
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