Illegal sand lifting in the vast charlands along the Padma River encompassing over 30 villages in Lalpur upazila, Natore is being carried out unabated, posing serious erosion threat and severely damaging the road infrastructure of the area.
For the past month, a group of unscrupulous businessmen has been mining sand from the river that’s already dried up, causing a threat to nearby dwellings and arable lands in Char Jajira, Ram Krishnapur, Baknai, Moharkoa and Naosara Sultanpur area, say locals.
Every day from dusk to dawn, they extract sand from the area by plunging pipes into the riverbed with large dredgers as local administration turns a blind eye, locals alleged.
Around 150 to 200 sand-laden trucks operate in the area every day, supplying sand to the construction site of the 132/33 KV Grid Substation of Bonpara Palli Bidyut Office in Baraigram, locals also said.
The operation of these trucks is damaging the 30-kilometre road that runs across the upazila and causing huge difficulties for its residents who are unable to sleep owing to the continual noise pollution caused by the heavy vehicles every night.
Moreover, the land acquired for the establishment of Natore Economic Zone, over 50 houses built under the prime minister’s ‘Ashrayan’ Project, the Upazila Health Complex, the Lalpur Police Station, the Sadar market, and nearly 30 villages across the riverbanks may suffer from the effects of severe erosion if the rampant sand lifting goes on unhindered, the locals alleged.
The locals claim that even after making several complaints to the Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) and other the local administration offices, no one has taken any steps against the illegal occupation of the sand lifters.
A local resident, Md Atik, said the proposed economic zone is about 3-4 km south of the Lalpur Upazila Hall intersection and right beside that, the sand extraction is going on from the dried-up riverbed.
Contacted, sand trader Abdullah Al Mamun, who is reportedly in charge of the sand mining operation, claimed that they had official permission for sand excavation.
“The area has been selected by a surveyor,” he said.
While the sand lifters claimed that they have legal authorisation to mine sand from the spot, denying their claim, Assistant Commissioner (Land) of Lalpur, Shammi Akhter, said they did not authorise anyone to lift sand from the charlands.
“I had no idea about the matter, and I will surely look into the matter soon,” said the AC Land of Lalpur.
