Sand is allegedly being lifted from Kuakata beach in the name of dam repair work for the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB). This is taking place at a time when the government is trying to take steps to protect the beach.

This illegal activity has been going on for the last six weeks. Thousands of cubic feet (CFT) of sand are being carried away by trucks daily without permission from the local administration.

Under the Coastal Environment Development Project, Phase-1 (CEIP-1), renovation work on polder no. 48 is currently underway at Kuakata sea beach. The project for construction of an embankment has been contracted to a Chinese company.

The company's local representatives have been loading trucks with sand from the adjoining area in front of the barricade and transporting it elsewhere. For the last few weeks, about 20–25 trucks have been transporting sand from the area. Following the instructions of the upazila administration, the lifting of sand stopped temporarily, but the process has begun again.

Locals, including tourists, were alarmed by the sounds of heavy vehicles carrying away 600 to 700 CFT of sand.

Mujibur Rahman, who is responsible for the CEIP-1 project work on Polder No. 48 and 47/2, said he was unaware of the issue and promised to put a stop to it.

Kalapara upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) Md Munibur Rahman said: “There is no scope to lift sand from the beach. The BWDB engineer has been asked to look into the matter. ”

BWDB executive engineer (Kalapara zone) Md Waliuzzaman said: “This work is not supervised by the local office. It is monitored from Dhaka under a project being implemented by a Chinese company.”

“The sand is being removed to prevent a blockade of the sea. It is being moved elsewhere,” he added.