'Sand-eaters' put villages along Jadukata River in Sunamganj at risk

 
More than two dozen villages along the Jadukata River in Sunamganj's Tahirpur are at the risk of losing their land and homes to illegal sand collection.
Lessees use unauthorised dredgers, while individuals even dig the banks of the river, villagers said, reports bdnews24.

They alleged politically influential people back the perpetrators, who on several occasions attacked, threatened or harassed villagers by filing cases against them. "We're helpless against the sand-eaters. The river was one kilometre wide but now it is 3 kilometres just because they dug up the banks," said Rafiqul Islam Uddin, a resident of Binnakuli village.

The government has leased out a 500-acre area to two firms for sand collection from the middle of the river only, not the banks, at Tk 686.5 million.
The companies - Shohag Enterprise, owned by Ratan Mia, and Khandaker Manzur Ahmed's company Araf Trade Corporation Ltd - are supposed to use traditional equipment like manual digging, buckets, or shovels for the sand collection.

But instead, they use dredgers, impacting the flora and fauna and preventing the natural flow of the river posing a greater threat to the entire area, according to environmentalists.

Locals protested against the excavation of stones and pebbles while the authorities leased out the area to excavate sand only.
Sometimes, mobile courts of the Upazila administration visit the sites and fine the lessees or seize their equipment.
But most people call it a "show off".

"The Jadukata River is simply being destroyed in the name of lease. If we don't stop digging out the riverbanks, at least 20 villages will be eliminated," said Tahirpur Upazila Parishad Chairman Karuna Sindhu Chowdhury."Many people in these villages lost their homes. If this [sand digging] continues, the entire region including Tahirpur Upazila will be affected. It is damaging the environment."