The lives and cultures of ethnic communities in Chattogram Hill Tracts, which includes some of Bangladesh’s most beautiful tourist attractions, are intrinsically impacted by jhum cultivation. In CHT, about 20,000 hectares of “jhum land” is cultivated every year. Read: Master plan for tourism in Bangladesh to be formulated in Dec: State Minister

Divers from the local fire service on Thursday morning recovered the bodies of two children who were swept away, along with their mother, by the onrush of hill water at Sainga Tripura Para in Sadar upazila of Bandarban district. The victims were identified as Krishnabati Tripura, 40, her 12-year-old daughter Bajerung and five-year-old son Pradeep. Read:Floods, landslides hit Rohingya camps hard: UNHCR On Wednesday morning, Krishnabati, along with her two children and her sister, went to the hill area for jhum cultivation, said Jagadish Tripura, a member of ward 3 of Sadar union parishad. In the afternoon, while they were returning home, heavy rains lashed the area. The trio were swept away by the onrush of the hill water in the local river while crossing a fountain amid rains, said Abdul Quader, in-charge of Milchhari police camp. Rumabati Tripura, Krishnabati's 16-year-old sister, however, survived the tragedy. Read:Landslides hit Chattogram, no casualties reported On information, divers from the local fire service went to the spot and conducted a rescue operation. However, they could recover the bodies of the two children only this morning. "Divers from the local fire service recovered the body of Bajerung from near the spot around 7am, while Pradeep's body was fished out of Sangu river," said Jerin Akter, superintendent of Bandarban police.