NORMAL life in Sylhet came to a virtual standstill on Tuesday as a coalition of transport owners and workers started enforcing a 72-hour transport strike in the division demanding to withdraw of a ban on stone collection from quarries. Leaders and activists of Sylhet Divisional Truck, Pickup Van, and Covered Van Owners-Workers Unity Council took position at different points in the city and in other important places across the Sylhet division in the early morning to picket in favour of the strike. Stone collection from quarries was suspended following an ordered of the High Court.
Extracting stones from different quarries and nearby sites using heavy machineries had become a serious environmental concern over the decade, and finally the administration managed to control the situation this year in four upazilas of Sylhet. As the transport workers demand for withdrawing the ban on illegal stone collection, environmentalists termed their demand as “unjust” and “unfair”. To settle the matter, Sylhet District Administration organised a meeting with stone and transport workers yesterday afternoon, but there was no fruitful outcome.
However, the protestors said around 15 lakh seasonal stone workers are directly dependent on the quarries during December to March season for their livelihood and thousands of transport and stone crusher workers are involved in the stone collection crushing and transportation process. The rise of stone extraction started in Companiganj, Gowainghat, Jaintapur and Kanaighat upazilas in Sylhet over last two decades. The High Court through issuing several orders managed to stop use of machineries for extraction. But the stone traders continued using illegal means while extracting stones. Around 80 workers died in these pits in 2017 to 2019.
Illegal stone collection from different rivers in Sylhet is responsible for land sliding, river bank erosion and dust that eventually pose public health danger. The demand to ban the illegal stone collection from quarries was not new from environmentalists; however alternative livelihood can sustainably champion the cause.
Extracting stones from different quarries and nearby sites using heavy machineries had become a serious environmental concern over the decade, and finally the administration managed to control the situation this year in four upazilas of Sylhet. As the transport workers demand for withdrawing the ban on illegal stone collection, environmentalists termed their demand as “unjust” and “unfair”. To settle the matter, Sylhet District Administration organised a meeting with stone and transport workers yesterday afternoon, but there was no fruitful outcome.
However, the protestors said around 15 lakh seasonal stone workers are directly dependent on the quarries during December to March season for their livelihood and thousands of transport and stone crusher workers are involved in the stone collection crushing and transportation process. The rise of stone extraction started in Companiganj, Gowainghat, Jaintapur and Kanaighat upazilas in Sylhet over last two decades. The High Court through issuing several orders managed to stop use of machineries for extraction. But the stone traders continued using illegal means while extracting stones. Around 80 workers died in these pits in 2017 to 2019.
Illegal stone collection from different rivers in Sylhet is responsible for land sliding, river bank erosion and dust that eventually pose public health danger. The demand to ban the illegal stone collection from quarries was not new from environmentalists; however alternative livelihood can sustainably champion the cause.
