Illegal sand lifting poses erosion threat
A local influential syndicate has long been illegally extracting sand from the New Dhaleswari river, a tributary of Jamuna, in the Kurshabenu area of Tangail's Kaihati upazila.
Yakub Ali and Gulzar Shamim, head of the syndicate, are cutting the river banks with excavators and selling the sand for crores of taka, alleged locals.
This is putting riverside villages at risk of erosion during the upcoming rainy season.
Meanwhile, the grave of Abdul Barek, a valiant freedom fighter of the upazila, is also at risk of being wiped out due to this.
The freedom fighter's grave, located near the river bank, is close to the place from where they have been extracting sand. As such, it may collapse at any time, locals expressed concern.
"The government had paved my brother's grave to preserve it. However, the way they are removing sand from nearby, it may collapse at any time due to erosion of the river in monsoon," said Kudrat Ali Sikder, younger brother of freedom fighter Abdul Barek.
"We requested the sand traders to save my brother's grave on our own land on the river bank, but they instead threatened us," he alleged.
Abdul Hai Akand, chairman of Gohailbari Union Parishad, said he heard that Yakub and Gulzar had bought the sand extraction contract from Hazrat Ali Talukder, former UP chairman.
"I tried to contact Yakub and Gulzar but they did not receive my phone calls. So I suggested the freedom fighter's family to inform the UNO about the matter," he added.
Contacted, Yakub said they are doing sand business after buying the ghat area from Hazrat Ali. He, however, declined to comment regarding the erosion risks and the issue of the freedom fighter's grave.
UNO Shahadat Hossain in Kalihati said he assigned the assistant commissioner (land) to take the necessary steps in this regard.
Mohammad Sifat Bin Sadek, assistant commissioner (land) in Kalihati, said, "An executive magistrate raided the spot and fined one person Tk 50,000 on Friday. A mobile court also began drives and caught six persons red-handed while extracting sand. They were later fined Tk 3 lakh under the Sand Quarry and Soil Management Act-2010."
They will continue the drives, he added.
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