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Illegal rock, sand extraction poses threat to environment in Panchagarh

Our Correspondent, Dinajpur
Illegal rock and sand extraction. which has been going on unabated in the bordering Shao river bed and khas land in and around Bhazanpur border area under Tentulia upazila, has become a cause of concern for ecological bal ance in the area.
Villagers said the river, entering Bangladesh from India, is badly affected due to rock and sand extraction.
Local environmentalists fear that this unchecked extraction may lead to devastating floods if water levels are surged during the rainy season as it is disrupting the natural flow of water of the river.
Locals alleged that despite strong resistance by the villag ers. rock and sand lifters have somehow managed to continue their operations, allegedly under the due patronage of local administration.
Moreover, khas land around the river is being leased out to so-called landless people by the local administration and the land is allegedly being used for rock extraction, said the locals.
During a visit to Tentulia, it was also found that rock lifters diverted the water flow of the Shao river just to facilitate smooth extraction and its subsequent transportation.
The natural water flow of the river has been disrupted by creating artificial dotted bars to divert water flow to keep specific area dry, which helps in smooth mining of the rock and sand.
Sources said although there is no such risk at the moment, but the area, which is already flood prone due to bordering area, may get devastated during the rainy season.
Villagers protested rock lifting in the area several times. Sensing die mood of the
villagers, the rock lifters did not offer any resistance, they added.
Locals alleged that the* villagers also met the local administration several times to check the illegal mining operations. But that also did not yield any results.
Besides, there are some
conflicting reports about the land ownership as the local land department leased out the khas land to the so-called landless people. While visiting the area, the villagers said rock and sand mining land belongs to them and they have rights to use the land anyway.
Locals said Md Afsar Ali of
Bhutipukur village in the upazila took 87 decimal of khas land as a lease from the local land department and engaged labourers to extract rock and sand from it.
Afsar alleged that Abdul Zabbar, Momiru) Islam, Zahirul Islam and Saidul are lifting rock from their respective lands.
Sheikh Sazzad Hossain, professor of Geology department at Moinadighi College, told reporters that rock extraction from the Shao river could cause soil loses of Bangladesh territory if the rock extraction continues unchecked.
When contacted, Tentulia UNO Manjurul Alam Prodhan said he is unaware of the rock lifting from khas land of the bordering river in recent months.
But some cases were found earlier and legal action was taken, he said and assuring of taking strict action, including cancellation of land lease if found anything illegal.
Tentulia Upazila Chairman Moktarul Haque admitted rock and sand lifting from khas land adjacent to the Shao river worsened the river bed.
He demanded exemplary punishment to those who are extracting rock and sand from the khas land.