Unabated sand lifting in the Brahmaputra River has led to extensive damage of agricultural land and houses in the adjacent areas in Jamalpur Sadar upazila.
Sources said gangs of illegal sand lifters have set up as many as 11 dragging machines along the river from Sonkanda to Narundi in the upazila. They said each dragging machine lifted around 30,000 cubic feet of sand each day.
As a result, over 3 lakh cubic feet of sand was being lost daily.“These nefarious activities have been going on for a long time.
The illegal lifters flout the rule of sustainable limit and even scoop sand at night.
As a result, adjacent farm lands and dwellings are being affected,” a source said.
“These gangs are minting money and also depriving the government from earning revenue,” he added.
“My one bigha of crop field was damaged due to the unabated lifting of sand from the river,” complained Akram Hossain, a farmer from Char Jatharthapur Ujanpara village in Jamalpur sadar upazila.
Ashraful Islam, Sohag Miah and Abdul Motaleb from the village echoed the complaint.
They further said the sand syndicates operating in the area were very influential and hence the villagers were afraid to confront them.
Sources said the illegally lifted sand was being used to fill the side of a private power plant at Char Jatharthapur Ujanpara village in Jamalpur sadar upazila.
They said indiscriminate sand mining has turned the motion of the river towards the northern side, raising the prospect of large scale erosion at Char Jatharthapur Ujanpara, Bhatipara and adjacent villages during the next rainy season.
The villagers said the authorities concerned must take steps to stop illegal sand lifting or else huge agriculture land and dwelling houses would be doomed.
When contacted, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Gen) Md Rasel Sabrin said sand lifting was prohibited in the area as a case was pending in the High Court. “No permission has been given to lift sand from the river.
We will carry out mobile courts and take legal action against anyone found flouting the riules,” he said.