Illegal sand extraction, using heavy machinery at Jadukata River in Tahirpur Upazila of Sunamganj is posing a serious threat to the environment.
According to local sources, a sand-mining syndicate, under the protection of local influential figures, has been extracting sand from the river in the upazila’s Badaghat Union for decades.
The situation has worsened amid the absence of administration and police in the current state and the extraction continues extensively day and night.
According to the Upazila Parishad and the concerned department sources, the Jadukata River was originally 57 metres (187 feet) wide, where continuous riverbank erosion over the past few years has expanded the river's average width to more than one kilometre.
Therefore, surviving riverside homes, farmland, mosques, temples, markets, and the natural environment are at a high risk of being washed away in the river.
Local sources said although the administration occasionally conducts raids, no strict legal action is yet being taken against the influential and well-known sand-mining syndicates. There are 10-15 sand miners from Ghatia village, who are involved in multiple ongoing cases of riverbank erosion, local sources added.
The village youths tried to take initiatives to stop the riverbank erosion but did not succeed due to local influential figures.
Instead, these sand miners continue to cut the riverbanks unabashedly. The affected individuals and residents are afraid to reveal their names.
Residents are afraid that if no strict legal action is taken against the sand miners, there is a risk of major conflicts between the sand mining syndicate and the community at any time.
The locals told The Business Post that the sand-mining syndicate, defying the administration, is cutting the riverbanks of the Jadukata River.
The syndicate operate in groups, both day and night, from various riverside villages like Bartek, Gorkati, Ghatia, and Charapara, extracting sand with dozens of boats. After extracting, the sand-mining syndicate fills large bulkhead and steel-bodied boats with sand and sends it to various parts of the country.
While the sand miners earn crores of taka, poor families living along the riverbanks are destitute. When residents try to protest against the sand extraction, they are attacked by the syndicate. Additionally, there are frequent violent clashes related to sand mining.
In recent years, a group of sand miners has also been extracting sand from the Maharam River, leading to the near collapse of a natural barrier and putting riverside homes at risk.
Ghatia village residents said that the syndicate is looting sand from the river using hundreds of boats day and night. Despite villagers' protests, the sand extraction does not stop. Instead, the sand miners, under the protection of influential figures, are threatened with more lawsuits and attacks.
As a result of the riverbank erosion, schools, mosques, temples, and thousands of homes have been lost to the river.
Tahirpur Upazila Executive Officer Salma Parveen said that the administration is conducting raids and remains on alert. Necessary actions will be taken against those involved in riverbank erosion.
