Illegal sand mining from Someswari must be banned to save livelihood

Several years ago, the Someshwari River drew locals in large numbers to Netrakona’s Durgapur upazila. They would wade in water with fishing nets, bathe, or stand on the banks with fishing lines.

This picture has now been replaced by an unpleasant one — hundreds of dredging machines destroying the very nature that sustained life and livelihood.

An eight-kilometer stretch of the river in Durgapur has become a haven for those extracting sand from the riverbed in an unregulated manner.

According to environmentalists, unregulated sand mining muddies the water and destroys plant and fish habitats. It poses a severe threat to local biodiversity and livelihood.

Over the last six months, a ruling party leader deployed nearly 1,000 dredgers that operate round the clock which is a clear violation of the Balumahal and Soil Management Act-2010.

The workers said around 1,000 trucks ply the road on a daily basis to carry the wet sand away.

The truckers pay a fee for using the road. Many of the dredgers used by ruling party men are locally made.

Known as “Bangla dredgers”, these devices use engines that pump sand from the riverbed to the bank. According to the act, it is illegal to use such machines to dredge rivers.

In 2010, the local administration started giving permission for sand mining in the Someshwari, one of the country’s transboundary rivers.

Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (Bela) said the unchecked sand mining from the Someshwari River is destroying vital national assets.

The river has been turned into sand mines, robbing the people of their rightful access. It has become the private property of the leaseholder.

We urged the authorities for an immediate cancellation of all sand mining leases. We must protect all rivers from illegal sand and stone lifting. We must protect our rivers from the graves for ecological balance.