Stone Extraction Site: Three workers die in Sylhet

Three workers were killed while working at a stone quarry on the bank of the Bisnakandi river in Sylhet's Gowainghat upazila early yesterday.

The dead are Bakir Ali, 20, and Tula Mia, 25, of Gulergaon in Sunamganj and Porimol Sarkar, 28, of Netrakona's Khaliajuri upazila.

The three died around 2:30am when they were digging a pit near Badepasha Kheya Ghat to extract stone, said Delwar Hossain, officer-in-charge of Gowainghat Police Station.

“They might have been buried under a pile of earth,” added the OC.

Locals said Basid Mia, the lessee of the stone quarry, tried to cover up the incident. He fled following the workers' death.

According to police, the lease holder sent the victims' bodies to their village homes without reporting the incident to law enforcers.

Acting on a tip off, police yesterday morning seized the bodies of Bakir and Tula from their village homes in Sunamganj and sent those to Sunamganj Sadar Hospital for autopsies, said the OC.

Muhaimin Milton, 45, of Hadarpar village near the Bisnakandi river expressed fear that extraction of stone in the area might lead to erosion of the soil at his village which would threaten its very existence.

Abdul Karim Kim, general secretary of Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon's (Bapa) Sylhet chapter, said unplanned extraction of stone might cause more landslides in the area.

He alleged that lease holders often dig trenches as deep as 50-60 feet in the ground, although their permissible limit is maximum 10 feet. They do so due to lax monitoring of the stone quarries by the local administration.

The Bapa was working to create awareness among the local people about saving the Bisnakandi area from destruction, Karim told The Daily Star.

Mohammad Salauddin, upazila nirbahi officer of Gowainghat, said they had banned extracting stone at night to ensure workers' safety, but some unscrupulous traders employ workers at night to make extra money.

Sharif Jamil, joint secretary of Bapa, said it is very important to protect the natural beauty of Bichnakandi. The nearby wetlands should also be protected.

But lax enforcement of law has been causing damage to the area. No unscrupulous traders have been given exemplary punishment so far, he alleged.

Mostafizur Rahman, assistant director at the Department of Environment in Sylhet, said they would investigate the workers' death and take legal actions.

This correspondent could not reach Basid Mia, lease holder of the stone quarry, as his phone was switched off.