Illegal sand extraction puts homes, infrastructure at risk

OUR CORRESPONDENT

MANIKGANJ, Sept 13: Unauthorised extraction of sand from too close a bridge and a school at Manikganj's Ghior Upazila has compromised the structural integrity of the bridge, and also put a mosque, a temple and homesteads of marginal people under the risk of eroding into the Dhaleshwari River.

A field visit revealed that dredgers are operating only 300 to 350 metres away from the Tora Bridge on the Dhaka-Aricha Highway. Sand is being loaded onto bulkheads from dawn until late at night. Another dredger is operating dangerously close to the Ramzan Ali Adarsha High School.

Victim Rokeya said, "They tie their boats near our houses and keep dredging. Now my house is tilting and collapsing. We have nowhere else to go."

Nurul Islam explained, "I had 22 decimals of land, but due to erosion, only four to five decimals remain."

Parul Biswas added, "My kitchen and son's room collapsed within months as the dredgers cut closer to our home. How can we survive like this?"

Rajib Mia noted, "Our yard has already disappeared. If the dredging continues at night near the bridge, my house will also be gone. We cannot afford to rebuild elsewhere."

Teachers are also concerned. Ramzan Ali Adarsha High School's senior teacher, Nittanonda Bosak, said, "The dredging noise makes teaching difficult. If this continues, the school, mosque, and temple will all be endangered. We have already sent a petition to the deputy commissioner."

Locals allege that the contracting company ignores the approved boundary, extracting sand from morning till night using six to eight dredgers. At least five families in Tora village of Baniajuri Union under Ghior Upazila have recently lost their houses due to continuous dredging.

Seventy-year-old Hamela Begum lost her husband two and a half years ago. Now she struggles to run her household with the little income her two sons earn as day laborers. Her only home once stood on 11 decimals of land. But as dredgers extracted sand illegally beyond the permitted boundary of the Tora sand field on the Dhaleshwari River, half of her homestead has already been swallowed by the river. Standing on the edge of erosion, her tearful question is "If the land erodes further, where will I go with my children?"

According to district administration sources, on April 17 this year, tenders were invited for seven sand fields in five upazilas of Manikganj. For Ghior's Tora-A sand field, the estimated lease value was set at Tk 36.9 million, with an extraction limit of 9.59 million cubic feet. In June, M/S Rizu Enterprise secured a one-year lease valued at Tk 75.19 million, excluding 10 per cent income tax and 15 per cent VAT.

M/S Rizu Enterprise, the leasing company, denied the allegations against them. Owner Kamal Hossain said, "From the bridge it may look close, but we are operating within the area demarcated by the DC office."

However, officials from the Roads and Highways Department disagree. Sub-Divisional Engineer Abdul Kader Jilani warned, "Extracting sand within one kilometer of a bridge damages its pillars and piles, reducing its lifespan."

DC Dr. Manowar Hossain Molla stated, "No one has permission to extract sand outside the designated boundary. We have fined the company several times through mobile courts. If they continue, we will recommend lease cancellation."

Locals believe that without stronger enforcement of law, neither their homes nor critical infrastructure along the riverbank can be saved.

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