Mongla Port authorities must stop dumping sands on farmers’ croplands

The Mongla Port authorities have declared war against the people of Banishanta union in Khulna’s Dacope upazila, as they are adamant to dump sand on cropland despite objections from locals. As part of their dredging works in the Pashur River, the port authorities want to pile up 2.16 crore cubic meters of sand on 300 acres of cropland in Banishanta, adjacent to the river, which could put the livelihood of 5,000 farmers in danger.
Rights campaigners said the port authorities were not paying any heed to find alternative sites for dumping sand. Thus, they declared war against the Banishanta people by rejecting the plea to save their cropland. The authorities are saying farmers can produce crops only once a year, which is completely false. They have been producing crops there three times a year.
A committee consisting of representatives from the Agriculture Ministry should be formed to verify the claim of port authorities. At a time when the prime minister is forecasting a famine and urging people not to leave an inch of land uncultivated, the port authorities are hell-bent on destroying croplands. Development should take into account people’s opinions. What people don’t want is not development. There can’t be any development against the people’s will. Locals alleged that the Mongla Port authorities treat people of the area as sub-human whenever they approach him to talk about the sand dumping.
The ‘development surprise’ of Bangladesh surprises the people and the world with its hollowness, fragility, manufactured data, and propaganda. But the real picture of the bubble economy is now becoming visible. Destroying croplands for dumping sands uplifted from rivers here is called development.
We are very concerned about the so-called authorities for their one-eyed policy of profiteering projects, no matter the cost and imparts. Not only this instance, all such projects, programmes, and steps destroy nature as an excuse for development.