Stop hill cutting in 6 Sylhet UZs: HC
The High Court yesterday asked the government to take steps to prevent the cutting of hills in six upazilas of Sylhet for the next six months.
The upazilas are Sylhet Sadar, Goainghat, Beanibazar, Companyganj, Jaintpur and Golapganj.
The court also issued a rule upon the government in response to a writ petition to explain in three weeks why the hill cutting should not be declared illegal.
It also asked the government to explain why it should not be directed to rehabilitate the people living at the basement of the hills to other places.
Bangladesh Environment Lawyers' Association (Bela) filed the writ petition on November 24, saying that different individuals have been cutting hills and tilas in the upazilas and damaging the environment.
The rights organisation prayed to the court to pass the necessary directives on the government to stop cutting hills and tilas in the upazilas.
Bela filed the petition as public interest litigation after several reports were published in The Daily Star, the daily Prothom Alo and the daily Ittefaq over the issue.
The bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik and Justice Jahangir Hossain came up with the orders and rule after holding hearings on the petition yesterday.
Advocate Iqbal Kabir Lytton appeared for Bela, while Deputy Attorney General ABM Altaf Hossain represented the government.
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