Ditches created in Tangon River now death traps

Mindless sand lifting in the name of dredging has created many dangerous ditches in Tangon River between Riverview High School and Munshipara Graveyard in Thakurgaon municipal town. A six-year-old boy drowned in a ditch near Old Tangon Bridge on Monday noon, proving the people's fear that the ditches night turn into death traps any time.Photo: STAR

Six-year-old Shushanta Mohanta drowned on Monday as he fell into a 30-feet deep ditch created due to mindless sand lifting from Tangon River near Tangon Bridge in the town.
The tragic incident took place as Shushanta, son of Ratan Mohanta of Collegepara in Thakurgaon municipality, was taking bath in the river with some local boys at noon, locals said.
Hearing other children's cry for help, a few locals jumped into the river but they failed to rescue the boy alive. His body was recovered after half an hour.
The river has a depth of less than 2-3 feet water upto 10-12 feet from the shore.
But several 30 to 40 feet deep holes appeared at different points in Tangon River from Riverview School to Munshipara in the town as a contractor of Water Development Board (WDB) has continued lifting sand with dredgers, locals said.
The ditches have become death traps for people, especially children, who get into the river for a bath, they said.
The Roads and Highways Department (RHD) officially put objection to the WDB as the vacuum in the river bed, caused by the sand lifting, poses threat to the nearby concrete bridge that serves as link between the district headquarters and four upazilas.
A century-old iron bridge near Thakurgaon Shilpakala Academy auditorium in the town is also affected due to the callous act, RHD officials said.
The sand extraction near the two bridges is being done as part of WDB's Tk 80-lakh 'Thakurgaon Town Protection Project' that involves dredging an 1150 metre area of the Tangon River.
As per work schedule, sand lifting was supposed to be done up to eight-foot depth at a stretch. Violating the condition, the contractor is still lifting sand indiscriminately from 30-40-feet depth, sources said.
When contacted, RHD Divisional Engineer Jahid Hossain said, "We sent a letter to the executive engineer of WDB on April 23 this year, asking him to stop the dredging within 50 metres of the bridge as sand lifting poses serious threat to the structure as well as embankments on the river."
WDB Executive Engineer Naimul Haque could not be contacted after repeated attempts as he did not respond to cell phone calls and was not present at his office in the afternoon.
Earlier on May 17, The Daily Star ran a report titled 'Sand lifting poses threat to two Thakurgaon bridges', describing the effects of indiscriminate dredging in the area.