Home ›› 08 Nov 2021 ›› Nation
About 100 acres of cultivable land in the Hasla area of Babla-Hasla union of Kalia upazila of Narail has been swallowed by the Nabaganga River due to illegal sand extraction by dredgers, according to locals.
Many houses and croplands in Hasla and Patkelbari villages have been destroyed, they said.
This year, 13 pucca and semi-pucca houses of nine families have been damaged, two brickfields, and more than 300 trees have been washed away by the river, officials from the district administration said.
Three brickfields and five houses are under threat, they added.
On October 1, the locals protested, demanding a halt in sand mining and asking for permanent protection of the riverbank, but it did not stop the illegal extractors. Three-hundred-year-old Shuktagram Bazar, Shuktagram Kumar, and Char Para, Hasla, Chanderchar, Patkelbari, and Kanchanpur villages of Babla-Hasla union of Kalia upazila get affected by river erosion every year for over three decades.
So far, more than one and a half hundred shops and houses, a great number of trees, and three hundred acres of cropland went into the river. Educational institutions, mosques-madrasas-cemeteries, temples and embankments, all kinds of infrastructures and establishments were affected. This monsoon, about 15 acres of cropland has gone under the river.
Despite this situation, the sand island of Bri-Hasla mouza of this union has been leased to Twaki Sardar of Diadanga village of Purulia union for one year at the cost of Tk 88 lakh by the local administration.
Earlier, 35 trawlers and dredgers were used, but now they are using about 15 dredgers. Local UP chairman Mozammel Hossain Pikul protested, but nothing changed. I have organized a human chain with hundreds of people in the area and also lodged complaints with the OC of Kalia police station, Upazila Nirbahi Officer, and Deputy Commissioner. Still, no one has taken any action in this regard, said Mosharraf.
Belayet Hossain, a member of the union, said croplands and two brickfields in the Patkelbari area adjacent to Hasla Mouza had been washed away by the river. Three more brick kilns and many croplands are in danger.
Sand contractor Twaki Sardar could not be reached despite several attempts by this correspondent. However, the lessee Md Mosharraf said sand was not being excavated outside certain sand islands.
He admitted that some lands and houses were damaged. He said it is true that some croplands and houses have been affected by erosion.
However, if sand islands are not excavated, the normal water flow will be hindered, resulting in erosion of the river banks in different places, he said.
Kalia Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Ariful Islam said, after receiving the complaint, he directed the Assistant Commissioner (Land) to investigate it. He added legal action would be taken after receiving the written report.
