16 boats, 4 machines destroyed in Teesta drive

A task force of the administration has destroyed 16 engine-powered boats and four shallow machines during a drive against illegal stone extraction from the Teesta River in Dimla upazila of Nilphamari.

The operation was conducted on Tuesday afternoon at several points of the river in Tepakharibari Union.
Dimla Upazila Nirbahi Officer Imranuzzaman, Assistant Commissioner (Land) Rowshan Kabir, Major Zulkarnain of Rangpur 51 BGB and Dimla Police Station Officer-in-Charge Shawkat Ali Sarker led the drive.

A 62-member BGB team and a police team from Dimla assisted in the operation. Several other pieces of equipment used for illegal stone extraction were also seized.

UNO Imranuzzaman said the task force had been formed to stop illegal stone extraction from the Teesta.

“A list of those involved is being prepared. Legal action will be taken against them based on investigation very soon,” he said.

He added that monitoring and drives would continue to protect the Teesta River.

Local residents alleged that stones had long been extracted from different points of the river using engine-powered boats and heavy machinery, allegedly in collusion with influential people.

They said the illegal extraction was creating deep holes in the riverbed, altering the river’s natural flow and increasing the risk of erosion.

Several residents of Dohalpara village in Khagakharibari Union, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the sound of engine-powered boats wakes them in the early hours, after which numerous boats arrive to extract stones and leave in the evening with the materials.

They said stone extraction was continuing at different points of Tepakharibari Union. As the riverbank is vulnerable to erosion, the Water Development Board has placed a large number of geo-bags along the bank this year.

Residents fear that continued extraction of stones from beneath the riverbed could alter the river’s course and trigger erosion at any time. They also warned that the geo-bags could be displaced or damaged.

Welcoming the administration’s drive, they urged the authorities to continue such operations to protect the Teesta and its vulnerable banks.