Our Correspondent :
The looting of soil from crop lands in the char areas has not stop even in the situation of ‘lockdown’ in controlling corona infection in Ishwardi. With power, the influential quarter of illegal brick kilns rose up in the festival of soil looting in the char areas of Padma.
Soil and sand were being extracted illegally through dredgers and digging machines (Veku) day and night without any hindrance. Hundreds of bighas of crop land in the char areas are being destroyed. The soil cut by destroying the agricultural land is going to the brick field of Laxmikunda. Laxmikunda roads have already been damaged due to the movement of heavy trucks, drum trucks and tractors.
Ishwardi Police Station Officer-in-Charge Asaduzzaman Asad said the ‘lockdown’ did not stop even after the land grabbers were cutting the soil of the char areas and taking it to the brick field. Day and night, sand and gravel were being illegally extracted from the crop land by means of dredgers and excavators (Veku). In this situation, on the instructions of the Pabna Superintendent of Police, the police arrested three brick kiln owners late on Tuesday (April 21) under Section 15 (1) of the Balu Mahal and Soil Management Act, 2010.
Atiqul Islam, in-charge of Rooppur outpost, arrested Jamal Uddin Joy, Jamirul Islam and Raja Pramanik, the owners of the illegal brick kiln, at around 2.30 pm. SI Atiq said SI Abdur Razzak of Ishwardi Police Station filed a case on April 20 under the Balu Mahal and Land Management Act. They are accused of cutting the soil of the Padma char area and supplying it to the brick field.
He said that regular cases have been filed under Section 431/34 of the Penal Code including 15 (1) of 2010 and sent to the district jail. A total of 55 illegal brickfields have been set up in a union at Laxikunda on the banks of the remote Padma River, about 20 km from Ishwardi municipal town. According to the locals, the bricks were burnt in three brick kilns in Kamalpur, Dadapur and Bilkedar villages of Laxmikunda in violation of the government ban. Most of the kiln owners did not follow the instructions for chimney height and accessories for the construction of the kiln. Of these, only 1 ‘Max’ brickyard has environmental clearance. Here, except for two zigzags (air), all the autophys ebbs. Wood is being used instead of coal as fuel in the lowlands. The black smoke emitted by these ebbs is constantly polluting the environment of the area. The black smoke and ash from the brick kiln is affecting the mango-litchi-jackfruit orchards and crop lands. The owners of the lowlands illegally cut the crop lands of the Padma Charchal to collect bricks for making bricks. Vat owners do not pay VAT to the government. These brickfields have been operating illegally for years, freeing the environment and destroying crop lands.
