2 important bridges, Tangail town protection embankment under threat
Indiscriminate earth and sand extraction from the Pungli river at Kalihati upazila poses threat to two bridges, one on Joydevpur-Elenga highway and the other on Joydevpur-Bangabandhu Bridge rail route.
The callous act and consequent movement of numerous sand and earth-laden heavy trucks is also weakening the nearby Tangail Town Protection Embankment, making it vulnerable to erosion in the coming rainy season.
Moreover, the pipeline of Titas Gas passes through the river in the area.
In last year, a number of dwelling houses and vast tracks of croplands went into the river, apparently due to the erosion triggered by sand lifting, locals said, adding that a school, an ancient graveyard and an Eidgah ground are now under erosion threat.
A syndicate of seven influential earth traders from adjacent Mahela, Paikora and Induti villages has continued the unscrupulous act in the sensitive area for the last couple of weeks, and they take away earth and sand on around 100 trucks daily from four points of the riverbed, said stakeholders.
Seeking anonymity, two of the earth traders said although there is no permission from the authorities, they are doing it for a short period after managing different quarters.
The authorities sometimes conduct mobile court drives against the illegal earth cutting and sand lifting in the river area, but the unscrupulous traders backed by powerful political quarters return to the illegal business after a few days, locals said.
Md Sirajul Islam, executive engineer of Water Development Board in Tangail, told The Daily Star that the area of the Pungli river was marked as 'sensitive and dangerous' as there are two important bridges.
Due to the same reason, the area was kept out from the Buriganga River Recovery Project -- Second Phase (involving New Dhaleswari-Pungli-Banshai-Turag-Buriganga River System), he said.
"Several locals recently requested me to give permission for movement of sand/earth-laden trucks on the flood protection embankment but I rejected," he added.
Contacted, Shahrier Rahman, assistant commissioner (Land) in Kalihati, told The Daily Star, "A mobile court drive was conducted against illegal sand extraction and earth cutting in the Pungli river area a few weeks ago. Action will be taken against perpetrators if the illegal act starts again."
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