A rush to loot silica sand recklessly has begun from more than a hundred hill streams in Kamalganj upazila and other areas of Moulvibazar district. A High Court ruling is being ignored. The illegal extraction is severely damaging stream embankments, hillocks, roads and farmland. The government is losing substantial revenue while the environment and ecology face serious threat.
According to information approved by the Bureau of Mineral Development, Moulvibazar district has 33 silica sand quarries. Through a notification on June 18, 2013, the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) identified 51 hill streams in the district as silica-sand-bearing areas.
Of these, 19 streams had been leased for non-mechanical sand extraction. But when uncontrolled and illegal extraction by lessees caused environmental and ecological damage, BELA filed a writ petition in the public interest on March 8, 2016. After a hearing, a High Court division bench on March 21 issued an injunction on granting further leases for those 19 sand quarries.
In defiance of the High Court’s clear injunction, silica sand is being extracted freely from various streams in Kamalganj upazila including Deochhara, Sunchhara, Japlachhara and Lawachhara. With an influential local political quarter involved in the sand trade, the administration has effectively been unable to take any visible step.
Locals said the sand-grabbing syndicate is highly reckless. They use labourers to extract the sand and transport and sell it quickly by truck, pickup, trolley and handcart. Those involved get advance word of the administration’s arrival and slip away, returning to work as soon as a raid ends.
Shah Saheda Akter, Sylhet divisional coordinator of the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA), said extracting sand without a lease is entirely illegal. Preventing it is primarily the administration’s responsibility, she said, and those creating the opportunity for this illegal work are essentially in contempt of the High Court’s ruling.
On enforcement, Kamalganj Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md Asaduzzaman said he had recently inspected the Deochhara area following an application received by the deputy commissioner. Later, on receiving news of silica sand extraction, a team was sent on a raid on Wednesday afternoon but found no one there. Regular raids are continuing to stop illegal sand extraction from the other streams as well, he said.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report