S A Shofiee, Sylhet:
The High Court Division has ordered the formulation of a master plan for the conservation and management of 17 stone quarries in Sylhet and Bandarban as environmentally friendly sustainable eco-tourism.
The Hon’ble Court has issued a rule on the defendants today (August 24) asking them why the failure and inaction of the defendants to stop the destructive, harmful and dangerous extraction, extraction and removal of stones from 7 (Jaflong, Shah Arefin Tila, Bholaganj, Utmachara, Sreepur, Bichnakandi and Lovachara) stone quarries in Sylhet district and 10 Jhiri-Chhara stone quarries in Bandarban district is a violation of the Constitution and the prevailing laws and judicial decisions in the country and should not be declared unauthorized, illegal and against public interest and why administrative action should not be taken against them for negligence in this regard. The court also asked why the stone quarries mentioned in the issued rule should not be declared as ecologically critical areas and should be protected and managed as environmentally friendly sustainable eco-tourism. The court also sought to know why legal action should not be taken against those involved in unauthorized and illegal stone extraction, collection and removal, an order should be issued to assess the harmful effects of stone extraction and recovery of compensation from the actual culprits. Along with issuing the rule, the court also ordered the defendants to take preventive measures to ensure that destructive, harmful and dangerous stone extraction, collection and removal activities from the mentioned stone quarries do not occur again. At the same time, the court has directed the Director General of the Mineral Resources Development Bureau, the Divisional Commissioner of Sylhet, the Deputy Commissioners of Sylhet and Bandarban districts to formulate a master plan for developing environmentally friendly sustainable eco-tourism and an action plan to implement the decisions of the meeting on stone quarry management held on April 27, 2025 under the chairmanship of the Advisor to the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources within the next 3 (three) months. The Honorable Court has directed the Director General of the Mineral Resources Development Bureau, the Deputy Commissioner of Sylhet and the Superintendent of Police to prepare a complete list of those involved in destructive, harmful and dangerous stone extraction from various places in Sylhet, including the 7 stone quarries mentioned in Sylhet district, and to prepare a report on the action to be taken against the actual culprits and submit it to the court. Above all, the Hon’ble Court has ordered the Divisional Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner of Sylhet to appear in person in the court and explain their position regarding the extraction, extraction and removal of stones from various places including stone quarries in Sylhet from August 2024 onwards. The Hon’ble Court has ordered the submission of the implementation report of the above orders to the court within the next 3 (three) months. A bench of the High Court Division comprising Mr. Justice Kazi Jinat Haque and Mr. Justice Ainun Nahar Siddika passed this order after the preliminary hearing of a public interest litigation (No. 13485/2025) filed by the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA). It is to be noted that in 2013, the government declared a total of 51 areas of the entire country as general stone/sand stone rich areas through a gazette notification. The stone quarries are located in Sylhet, Sunamganj, Lalmonirhat, Panchagarh and Bandarban districts. Considering the harmful effects of stone extraction, the Energy and Mineral Resources Department decided to stop stone extraction from all stone quarries in the country in 2020. Later, when the decision to stop stone extraction was canceled in 2025, destructive stone extraction, extraction and removal from the mentioned quarries and various places outside the quarries in Sylhet continued indiscriminately, which was continuously publicized in the country’s print and electronic media and social media. In this situation, a meeting was held on 27th April, 2025 under the chairmanship of the Advisor of the Ministry of Power, Fuel and Mineral Resources, where 1) Jaflong in Sylhet district, Shah-Arefin Tila, which is under the case, and 10 in the hilly Jhiri-Chhara area of Bandban Hill District, which are under the UPPA (UPPA) Act, will be excluded from the scope of lease activities due to environmental restrictions; 2) Bholaganj, Utmachara under Companiganj Upazila of Sylhet district; Sreepur under Jaintapur Upazila; Bichnakandi under Gowainghat Upazila and Lovachhara under Kanaighat Upazila stone quarries will be suspended for the time being; 3) Environmental clearances should be obtained before leasing the remaining stone quarries; 4) Regular mobile court visits and legal action will continue against those involved in illegal/unauthorized stone extraction, extraction and removal from stone quarries. Not only stone workers and transport drivers, but also their sponsors/main sponsors involved in illegal/unauthorized stone extraction, extraction and removal should be identified, arrested and brought under the law; 5) Initiatives should be taken to set up law enforcement checkpoints at various places to stop illegal stone extraction and removal activities. Emphasis should be placed on arresting trucks transporting illegally extracted stones through these checkpoints/task force operations; 6) Illegal/unauthorized stone should be seized from stone quarries and action should be taken as per the rules;7) The latest reports on the mobile court/task force operations conducted by the district administration regarding illegal/unauthorized extraction, mining and removal of stones from stone quarries should be sent to the Energy and Mineral Resources Department regularly; 8) The district administration should keep a close eye on whether the court orders are being properly followed in the stone quarries closed by the learned court order and 9) It was decided that the district administration will formulate a detailed action plan for the development of the tourism industry in the area adjacent to the stone quarries of Sylhet. If the extraction, mining and removal of stones continues in violation of the law, court orders and important decisions of the government, the mentioned case will be filed to stop it. The defendants in the case are – Ministry of Land; Ministry of Power, Fuel and Mineral Resources (Fuel and Mineral Resources Division); Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; Ministry of Home Affairs (Public Security Division); Secretaries of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Transport and Tourism and the Ministry of Water Resources; Director General of the Department of Environment and Director of Sylhet
Divisional Office; Director General of the Mineral Resources Development Bureau and Water Development Board; Divisional Commissioner of Sylhet District; Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police of Sylhet and Bandarban districts.
Advocate Minhajul Haque Chowdhury handled the case on behalf of Bela, assisted by Advocate
S. Hasanul Banna and Deputy Attorney General Mr. Muha. Ershadul
Bari Khandaker handled the case on behalf of the state.
