Meghna devours land of shipyard, cement factory

A portion of the land belonging to ship exporting firm Ananda Shipyard and Tiger brand cement factory of Madina Group in Meghna industrial estate at Sonargaon upazila in Narayanganj went into the river early Wednesday.
It happened all of a sudden spreading panic among the employees and workers of the two organisations.
At least 10 workers of the two firms were injured as they ran helter skelter for safety.
The authorities of the two firms filed general diaries with the local police station blaming each other for causing the river erosion.
Ananda Shipyard officials said if the erosion continued the firm's ship building work would have to be stopped and orders for exporting ships would slip away causing a loss of about Tk 100 crore.
Madina Group which produces Tiger brand cement belongs to former Awami League lawmaker Haji Selim.
Manager (Administration) of Ananda Shipyard Mizanur Rahman said a substantial area of land including the guide wall has been devoured by the river. He said different equipment and iron scraps used for shipbuilding worth about one crore taka went into the river.
The shipyard in the GD blamed Madina Group for the erosion saying the group had filled up the land for setting up Tiger Cement Factory by lifting sand from the Meghna River illegally and in an unplanned way.
Deputy General Manager (DGM) of Tiger Cement Factory in the GD alleged that a huge portion of their firm went into the river as Ananda Shipyard carried out illegal dredging for keeping their ships.