Due to the illegal cutting of topsoil and construction of human settlements, the arable lands in Kaliganj of Gazipur are decreasing at an alarming rate.
According to local sources, cutting of agricultural land has been going on rampantly for the last several months in different areas of the upazila violating the environmental law.
Experts said the rampant removal of topsoil from croplands is causing significant environmental degradation, raising concerns about agricultural sustainability and land misuse.
Topsoil plays a crucial role in fostering healthy agricultural ecosystems, essential for crop growth and plant development. However, the unrestricted removal of topsoil poses severe threats to both food security and environmental balance, triggered by factors such as erosion, overgrazing, and industrialisation.
The unlawful sale of cropland topsoil is prevalent across various areas of the upazila, blatantly disregarding the Land Act.
This illegal practice diminishes the agricultural land's fertility, leading to reduced crop yields and rendering cultivated lands barren. Shockingly, local influential figures are directly engaged in this illicit syndicate, raising serious accountability issues.
The situation in the upazila highlights a critical issue that needs immediate attention. The loss of topsoil is not just an environmental concern but also a threat to food security and the livelihoods of countless farmers. It is imperative that authorities take decisive steps to halt this practice and restore the fertility of the land for the sake of future generations.
Recently, the matter came out in the discussion of Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) SM Imam Razi Tulu and in the monthly meeting of upazila law and order situation.
Although the administration conducted several drives based on secret information, it was found that the incident did not match the information received.
The local administration conducted multiple drives through the mobile court and fined several people, but the cutting of agricultural land is not stopping. However, an inquiry revealed that many local leaders are misleading the administration with wrong information for their personal interests.
It is known that due to the disproportional (up-and-down) size of agricultural land in different parts of the upazila, many farmers take their own initiative to level them.
Again, many farmers are taking the initiative of fish farming in Boro paddy land. Many are removing the topsoil of agricultural land to build their new houses, while others are raising the land level of their houses to protect them from monsoon and flood waters.
According to the upazila administration sources, mobile courts were conducted in Jamalpur, Jangalia, Bakhtarpur, and Moktarpur unions of the upazila on April 24. Five excavators and five lorries were seized in the raid. Also, extraction and marketing of soil from agricultural land is stopped.
On May 4, mobile courts conducted drives in the Jamalpur, Kapais and Barahara areas of the upazila and five people were sentenced to jail for 15 days.
On May 13, a drive was conducted in the Fuldi area of Bakhtarpur Union and a person was fined Tk 60,000.
All the drives were conducted by the Executive Magistrate and Kaliganj Upazila Nirbahi Officer.
UNO Tulu said, “I have joined this upazila for a few months. But whenever I got news of cutting soil from agricultural land, I immediately conducted drives and fined the culprits with the utmost importance. But it is very regrettable that some local circles often mislead the administration with wrong information for their personal interests. This wastes a lot of valuable time.”
