Mindless sand lifting destroying cultivable land in Jamalpur
Sand lifting by unscrupulous traders wreaks havoc on cultivable lands near the Brahmaputra River at Char Jotharthopur in Laxmipur union under Jamalpur Sadar upazila.Photo: STAR
Mindless sand lifting is destroying cultivable land in Char Jotharthopur in Laxmipur union of Sadar upazila. People of the area alleged that indiscriminate cutting of edges of cultivable land is also threatening crops on the land. “Cultivable land is eroding as a few groups of people in Chankanda, Haripur, Masimpur of Sadar upazila are involved in sand lifting illegally from Char Jotharthopur on the other side of Brahmaputra river", said ADC (Revenue) Kabir Al-Asad. He further said a case is going on between the Mineral Resources Ministry and Revenue Department over sand lifting issue in the char area for the last 3-4 years in the High Court. "The court had imposed an injunction on sand lifting till the matter is settled", he added. "But defying the court order, a syndicate is continuing to lift sand illegally depriving the government of huge revenue", the ADC pointed out. Sand lifting licence holder Md. Amjad Hossain said, "There are 22 sand lifters like me in the district who got their licences from Mineral Resources Ministry during past government. They generally lift sand from the khas land of Char Jotharthopur area at a rate of Tk. 150-200 per truck. Each licence holder had to pay Tk. 44,000-50,000 in two installments a year to the ministry. All of them lifted sand without any trouble during the tenure of BNP government", he further said. "When Awami League-led government came to power, all but two of the sand lifters have become inactive. The victims can not lift sand because of interference of local influential people of ruling party. The AL men lift sand although they hold no licence," Amjad alleged. "The local AL influentials have also managed the two licence holders out of 22. Habibur Rahman is doing a monopoly business by selling sand at a rate of Tk.600-700 per truck. A syndicate led by Habib is depriving the other 20 licence holders. As a result the ministry concerned is deprived of about Tk. 10 lakh revenue per year”, Amjad further alleged. "The 20 sand lifters including myself can not enter the sand area for being BNP supporters", he claimed. Contacted, Habibur Rahman Hobi said, "My people are helping the two sand lifters to do business". Regarding erosion of the char land he said, “A few people have taken lease of char land from farmers on condition of selling sand of their land. As a result, the cultivable land of the area is falling victim to erosion", Habib said. Visiting the Char Jotharthopur area this correspondent saw a farmer of the area lifting sand from his own land. "I earn more by selling sand than by cultivating", he said.
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