2007 Chittagong Mudslides - Causes of The Disaster

Causes of The Disaster

Bangladesh’s annual monsoon for 2007 started with unusually heavy rain, intensified by a storm from the Bay of Bengal on June 9-June 10, 2007. By June 11, more than one-third of the southeastern coastal city of Chittagong was under water, reported the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. In addition to the floods, the rains triggered devastating landslides in the deforested hills on which the city is built.

Chittagong District Commissioner Mukhlesur Rahman blamed hill cutting for the disaster. Lalkhan Bazar, one of the worst damaged areas in the mudslide, has been identified as one of the most affected by hill cutting led by influential people. Professor of Geography and Environmental studies in Chittagong University Shahidul Islam explained, "The only reason for Monday’s mud slide in the cantonment area is cutting hills indiscriminately... We were warning about this risk for decades, and this event our fears real." Architect Jerina Hossain said, "Cutting hills made the soil slippery and loose. As a result, it came down with the rain."

Communications Adviser of the Bangladesh Government Major General MA Matin supervising the rescue operation on behalf of the Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed directed Chittagong divisional and district administration to identify those responsible for hill cutting on June 14.