Stop sand extraction from Titas river: HC

The High Court yesterday ordered the government to stop sand extraction from the Titas river near Sheikh Hasina Titas Setu (bridge) in Bancharampur upazila of Brahmanbaria in 48 hours to protect the bridge and flow of the river.

Issuing a suomoto (voluntary) rule, the court asked the government to submit a report before it after complying with the directive in a month.

In the rule, the HC asked the authorities to explain why their inaction to protect Sheikh Hasina Titas Setu, the first Y-shaped bridge in the country, and flow of Titas river should not be declared illegal.

The HC bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman issued the order and rule following a report published in The Daily Star on December 25 last year under a headline “Illegal sand trade poses threat to Titas bridge”.

Advocate Cumar Debul Dey, a Supreme Court lawyer, placed the news report before the HC bench for necessary order on the government.

The Daily Star report said while the government is conducting drives against river encroachment, an influential sand trader is not only constricting flow of the Titas river by occupying its bank, but also endangering Sheikh Hasina Titas Setu.

Ignoring the risk posed to the Tk 94-crore bridge that the prime minister inaugurated last year, the sand trader, Saidul Islam, has taken up several bridge piers that he is using to make an enclosure where he stockpiles sand for sale. Moreover, the sand stockpiled in the enclosure is being lifted from the river right below the bridge -- another violation of the law.

Titas Setu, 771.20 metres in length, has become a popular site to visit and is an alternative option for travellers to go to Chattogram from Dhaka.

Such an asset of the country is under threat, but the authorities concerned seem to be indifferent, alleged many locals, the report said, adding that Saidul has been conducting sand trade for a year in a similar fashion by occupying the bank of the Titas in Charlohania as well.