Sand lifting makes Dinajpur road risky

A road in Phulbari upazila of the district is on the brink of collapse as an influential man has been lifting sand illegally from an open land just next to the road.

The Local Government and Engineering Department (LGED) built the three-kilometre road a few years ago to improve communications of five villages of Shibnagar union in the upazila.

Locals said Masudur Rahman Chowdhury of Rajarampur village started lifting sand using an excavator from just beside the road in Amdungihat area 13 days ago.

The villagers requested him not to collect the sand from near the road, but he paid no heed.

Locals said Masudur is younger brother of Shibnagar Union Parishad Chairman Mamunur Rashid Chowdhury Biplob.

This correspondent on Thursday saw sand dug up by an excavator being loaded on trucks. A 30-metre-long and three-metre-deep hole had been dug just beside  the road.

Masudur's men yesterday collected two more trucks of sand from the land using excavator.

Azhar Ali of Amdungihat area said Masudur is doing whatever he likes after his brother was elected chairman this year.

Masudur said he was collecting the sand from his own land. He did not need any permission to collect the sand from his land, he added.

Being informed by journalists, Upazila Nirbhahi Officer (UNO) of Phulbari Ehtesham Reza visited the spot on Thursday and stopped the illegal sand collection.

Masudur told the UNO that he would refill the land within a week but people of the area were apprehending that he would ignore the UNO's order.

Legal action will be taken against him if the refilling of the excavated land is not completed within a week, the UNO said.