Sylhet Bureau :
An influential group is extracting illegal sand from Surma River in Kusighat area of Ward No. 31 of Sylhet City Corporation. The vast township is at risk. A petition with the signatures of hundreds of people has been submitted to various offices of the government including SCC Mayor by the conscious community of the area seeking a remedy in this regard.
An official of the Sylhet City Corporation visited the area recently (January 15) after the petition was filed.
According to local sources, Kashba Kusighat Nayabasti area of 6/1 section of Surma river is an erosion prone area of the river. An influential group from this area has been extracting sand illegally for some time and has put more than 150 poor families at risk. Environmental disaster has occurred. Even the Gurustan of the villagers and the houses of many are under threat. Previously, they have taken sand worth lakhs of rupees.
The villagers have appealed to Sylhet City Corporation Mayor Anwaruzzaman Chowdhury, Sylhet Deputy Commissioner and Executive Engineer of Sylhet Water Development Board for the intervention of concerned authorities. They demand that quick action should be taken to protect the local residents by stopping illegal sand extraction from the area which is prone to erosion and danger.
Sylhet City Corporation’s license officer Nahid Aziz visited the site following the application.
He said, I visited the spot and submitted the report to the higher authorities.