It is extremely unwarranted that the ruling party chairman of Rajrajeshwar Union Parishad in Chandpur Sadar Upazila allegedly keeps destroying the Padma and Meghna Rivers by illegally extracting huge quantities of sand from these two rivers despite the government’s ban. According to a media report, there are many sandbars in the confluence of the two mighty rivers in the area. For almost eight years, this chairman, elected unopposed, has been extracting sand with more than two hundred dredgers round the clock.
The report further said that almost 20,000 to 40,000 cubic feet of sand and soil is being extracted daily with the dredgers. People involved in the dredger and sand business said that sand from the Padma and Meghna Rivers is currently being sold at Tk 2.5 to Tk 3 per cubic foot. As per this calculation, sand worth Tk 10 million is being sold daily, Tk 300 million a month and Tk 3.6 billion a year. We also like to mention here that the illegal extraction of sand is not limited to these two rivers only. These sand extractors take every chance to arbitrarily extract sand from the rivers across the country. As a result, the rivers face severe erosion resulting in displacement of the people as well as loss of huge cultivable lands.
Residents of Rajrajeshwar Union have formed human chains on several occasions demanding action to stop illegal extraction of sand with dredgers in Padma and Meghna Rivers. They also alleged that there is an influential minister behind him. According to the minister, the government receives a lot of revenue through this. But after 2015, the UP chairman did not pay a single penny to the government. He is a local Awami League leader and the uncontested UP chairman. He is not following the rules of sand extraction from the river, says the district administration. Then again, officials of the Department of Environment and Department of Fisheries said, due to extraction of sand, the dam protecting the town of Chandpur has sunk. The riverbank is also receding. Breeding of hilsa is at risk.
Reportedly, the government has taken necessary measures to protect the rivers in Chandpur, prevent erosion of Meghna, protect hilsa resources and stop unplanned sand extraction. But nobody knows how effective this decision will be. We want that not only he will have to stop sand extraction, he will also have to face trial and punishment for the damage he has done to the river, the environment and the local people in the last eight years. We also demand that he must pay proper compensation.
