Large ships are anchored in rows in the river, known as ‘bulkheads’. Hundreds of workers are loading baskets of stones from the riverbank onto the ships. Nearby, excavators are working in the river, lifting stones from under the water.
Amidst the ongoing campaign against stone looters in various parts of Sylhet, this scene was seen in the Lova River of Kanaighat Upazila. The Lova River comes from across the border and merges with the Surma. In this river too, stones come from the other side with the flow of water.
There is a stone quarry (where stone is extracted) at the beginning of the Bangladesh part of the Lova River. Stone could be extracted in that quarry until 2020. After that, the government no longer leased the quarry, meaning that stone extraction is prohibited. However, local residents allege that looting is now taking place there in the name of transferring the stones sold at auction. They say that most of the people involved in the stone looting are Awami League leaders and activists, who are working in collaboration with some BNP leaders. In this case, there is a collusion between them and the contractor who bought the stones at the auction.
The Lova River is about 60 kilometers away from Sylhet city. Its distance from Kanaighat Upazila city is about eight kilometers. Yesterday, on Sunday, from 1:00 to 2:30 pm, while traveling by boat to the zero point of the Lova River on the border with India via the Surma River, it was seen that at least 15 workers were lifting stones at a bulkhead in the station area opposite the Kanaighat Bazar on the Surma River. Such piles of stones were seen in the surrounding area for at least half a kilometer. The workers were also working on crushing stones in a crusher machine (stone crushing mill) nearby.
Workers are lifting stones in boats after the demolition. Yesterday afternoon, at Lobachhara in KanaighatPhoto: Prothom Alo
Immediately after crossing the Surma River and entering the connected Lova River, several hundred piles of stones are visible on both banks of the river. At least 100 bulkheads are piled up near Chintarbazar, Mecharchar, Bagichabazar, Nayabazar, Mulagul, Saudgram, Baragram and Bhalukmara and Daukergul villages near the twenty-second pillar of Lovachara on both sides of the river. Stones were being lifted onto those bulkheads. In total, at least 50 excavators were seen, with which stones were being lifted onto boats. 30 to 35 crusher machines were seen breaking the stones into pieces.
Stones were seen being lifted in three places. Excavators were also being used there. Some people were seen lifting stones from the riverbed by hand and placing them in boats. A local resident, who asked not to be named, told Prothom Alo that the Lobachhara area is inaccessible. Administration officials do not come here. That is why there is no obstacle to looting stones. He said that stones are removed at night. Then no one sees.
The technique by which stones are moved
According to local administration sources, after the quarry lease was closed in 2020, the mobile court seized about 1.6 million cubic feet of stone from both banks of the river and its surroundings. Of this, 4.4 million cubic feet of stone were auctioned that year. However, it was not possible to sell it due to the lawsuit. Later, after legal complications, on December 29 last year, the Bangladesh Mineral Resources Development Bureau (BMD) auctioned 4.4 million cubic feet of stone. A company named M/s Pius Enterprises bought the stones for Tk 21.5 crore. The condition was that the stones purchased at the auction would have to be removed only during the day at its own expense and initiative within the 45 days mentioned in the work order. New stones cannot be extracted and stored and mixed with the stones purchased at the auction.
Sources said that the contractor started work on removing the stones on May 7. The stipulated 45 days had already expired. Then, they applied to the authorities and extended the time by another 30 days. The additional time also expired on July 23.
Sylhet Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Sher Mahbub Murad told Prothom Alo, “The auctioned company applied for a second time to extend the time to remove the stones. But the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources did not grant an extension and settled the application by documenting it.”
When asked why the stones were being moved even after the deadline, Kamrul Hasan Chowdhury, owner of contractor M/s Pius Enterprises, claimed that he was not removing any stones unfairly. According to him, he was given only 45 days to move a large number of stones. It is not possible to move so many stones in this time. He said that only 30 to 40 percent of the stones bought at the auction have been moved. So he has again applied for three months. The time was not extended. He has filed a writ in the High Court. The court has given him three months. He has heard that the government has appealed against it. However, no stay order has been issued. Therefore, there is no obstacle in moving the stones.
When asked who removes the stones at night, Kamrul Hasan Chowdhury said he did not know.
Sylhet environmentalists say that after 45 days, the contractor has been given an additional 30 days. But even then, the purpose of the request for an extension is different.
BNP leaders in front, AL in the background
Local sources say that Kamrul Hasan Chowdhury, the owner of the contracting company that bought the stones at the auction, was once an active leader of Sylhet Metropolitan Chhatra Dal. With him in front, 20 to 30 Awami League leaders and activists are involved in looting the stones. Some are involved in BNP politics.
Among those accused of stone looting and patronage are Kanaighat Upazila Awami League Finance Secretary Tamiz Uddin, senior member Kamal Uddin, Awami League activist Moinul (arrested on August 12 in another case), Laxmi Prasad Purba Union Awami League General Secretary Nazim Uddin, Vice President Bilal Ahmed, and Kanaighat Upazila Awami League Environment Secretary Almas Uddin.
It was possible to talk to the three people named. They are Tamiz Uddin, Bilal Ahmed and Almas Uddin. They denied the allegations. Tamiz Uddin said, “I am not involved in these things. Has the person who won the auction complained? If he didn’t, then why is there a complaint against me? There are no stones outside the auction on both sides of the Lovachara.”
Almas Uddin said, “We had a small amount of material (stones). The government took it. Now, whoever got it at the auction took it. We were not involved in anything.”
However, Nazim Uddin, a member of Ward No. 3 of Lakshmi Prasad Union in Kanaighat Upazila and joint secretary of the union BNP, said that the organization that won the auction, along with local Awami League leaders and one or two BNP workers, are now removing the stones. Although the time for removing the auction stones has passed, the removal of stones has not stopped. In addition, the environment of the area is also being destroyed by new stone extraction.
Auction paper being used as a ‘shield’
Stones have been looted from various places in Sylhet for a year. The latest looting was from the white stone tourist center in Bholaganj upazila. In the face of widespread criticism, the government has launched a strong campaign since Thursday.
The local administration said that the joint forces and task force conducted an operation to recover the looted stones for the fifth day yesterday. According to information till 5 pm, about 39,000 cubic feet of stones were recovered in the operation of the task force in Sylhet Sadar, Companiganj and Gowainghat upazilas. During this time, two people were detained from Salutikar area of Sadar upazila for interrogation.
When the movement of stones became difficult during the operation, there were allegations that stones were being removed from the Lova River using auction papers.
In this regard, Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) Sylhet divisional coordinator Shah Shaheda Akhtar told Prothom Alo, “A group is using the legal paper of the auction as a shield to carry out indiscriminate looting in the quarry and surrounding areas.”
Source: Prothom Alo
