OUR CORRESPONDENT, Lalmonirhat

Nur Mohammad goes down to the river with a net in hand, stays underwater for two to three minutes and emerges with some small and big stones.

Nur, now in his 40s, does this for four to five hours every day to make a living out of stone lifting.

Like him, more than 200 people of seven villages in Lalmonirhat’s Patgram upazila lift stones from Dharla river to earn a living, as this is the only source of their livelihood.

“I can lift 12 to 15 cubic feet of stones from the river every day,” Nur said, adding that his father and grandfather used to collect stones from this very river using such nets, and now, has entered the profession.

Nur, a resident of Kawamari village and a father of two, said he sells each cubic feet for Tk 40 to 45 and earns up to Tk 500 to 600 daily. “I don’t look for fish under the water but rather search for stones.”

Sakkul Miah, another stone collector of the village, said they have been collecting stones from the riverbed with nets for many years.

During heavy current, water from the upstream bring in huge numbers of small and big stones into Dharla river, he said. “Although collecting stones from the riverbed is a hard job, the riverside people here have no other alternative.”

Jannu Mia of Shrirampur village said after collecting the stones, they bring those to the shore on small boats.