The upazila administration has erected a bamboo fence to prevent illegal sand extraction from the Jadukata River in Tahirpur Upazila of Sunamganj. The fence was erected in the presence of the administration and police in the Anwarpur area of the Rakti River in the upazila on Wednesday.
The local administration said that there are two sand palaces in the Jadukata River. However, due to the case, no palace was leased for the year 1432 Bengali. As a result, sand mining in that river was banned. Despite the ban, a group was mining sand without the administration’s notice. The extracted sand was being transported through the Rakti River. For this reason, the river has been blocked with a bamboo fence.
Tahirpur Upazila Executive Officer (UNO) Md. Abul Hashem and Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Md. Delwar Hossain were present during the installation of the bamboo fence.
UNO Abul Hashem said, “Since there is no lease on the Jadukata River, there is no opportunity to extract sand here. This initiative has been taken to stop illegal extraction.”
According to the district administration, no sand palaces in the district have been leased for the current Bangla year. As a result, the district administration has issued a notification banning the extraction, transportation and storage of sand in all palaces from the first day of Baishakh. A letter signed by Additional District Magistrate Mohammad Rezaul Karim in this regard has been sent to the army camp, BGB, police superintendent, truck owners and workers’ association. It requests them to take legal action and strengthen patrols on the roads.
The largest sand castle in the district is located on the Jadukata River. This time, the highest bid of Tk 108 crore was received for two castles there, but the lease could not be implemented due to the stay order of the High Court. For the same reason, the lease activities in the sand castles of Chhatak’s Chela and Khasiamara, Sadar and Bishvambarpur upazilas on the Dhopajan River are also suspended.
Source: Prothom Alo
