A sudden restriction on extracting sand from the riverbed and Balu Mahals (sand quarries) has created a crisis in managing the high demand for earth needed to widen the country's crucial Dhaka-Sylhet highway.
According to sources, the SASEC Dhaka-Sylhet Corridor Investment Project is struggling to manage over 24 million cubic metres of earth. For the project, sourcing the prime requirement from distant areas causes both financial and deadline challenges.
They said the Tk 169.18 billion project's need for earth is equivalent to more than 4.5 million trucks with a capacity of five tonnes each.
A cubic metre of dry sand weighs between 1,280 to 1,600 kilograms, depending on its composition, which is roughly equivalent to 1.41 to 1.76 net tonnes. The land ministry banned the extraction of sand by amending the 'Balu Mahal and Management Act-2010', which became effective on September 18.
Last year's unusual flash floods and uncontrolled sand extraction from different rivers prompted authorities to amend the law -- offering more protection to biodiversity and ensuring precautionary measures to check land erosion and flooding.
Since February 2023, the project office under the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) has signed contracts for six package works, said sources, adding that this amendment has closed all potential sources for collecting earth from nearby areas.
Contractors typically fulfil their earth requirements from nearby rivers, small hills and waterbodies, as transportation from distant areas is costly. The contractors of this project secured the work by quoting roughly around Tk 450 per cubic metre of earth.
"We need around 5.0 million cubic metres of sand for each package, covering a range of 25 kilometres and beyond," said an official of the highway project, requesting anonymity.
"Due to the new rule, none of the sources in the Sylhet region would be viable for sand collection," he said.
The highway, which starts after the Katchpur bridge outskirts of the capital, crosses various rivers up to Sylhet -- including the Surma, Kushiyara, Manu and Khowai.
The RHD also faced a similar issue in the Dhaka-Chattogram highway corridor widening project after the agriculture ministry banned earth extraction from agricultural land in 2010-2011. Extracting earth from roadside arable land was a common practice at the time.
However, the crisis was managed after the concerned ministry obtained approval from the Directorate of Environment by cutting small hills. The hillocks were then labelled as "dead hills".
The RHD is currently overseeing a four-lane project to widen a 190 km highway from Tangail's Elenga to Rangpur under SASEC II, where sand is primarily sourced from river Jamuna.
Project Director AK Mohammad Fazlul Karim said they have sent a letter to the Road Transport and Highways Division to take necessary steps by the end of August.
He said the project office is working to resolve the problem, possibly by obtaining special permission, with a focus on environmental safety.
Contacted, water resource and climate change expert Professor Ainun Nishat called for better coordination among all stakeholders, including engineers and ministry officials, before taking up such projects.
He also said better planning can both preserve the environment and sustain development work while meeting the project requirements.
"Earth is essential for any development activities and it is equally crucial to protect the environment. Therefore, there should be a new assessment to determine the source of soil or earth," he told to the FE over the phone when asked about the said sourcing for development projects.
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