Sand looted from river by 'ruling party' men on sale
Huge quantity of sand, illegally lifted from the shoal of the Padma River by ruling party men, is being loaded onto trucks for sale at Roopur in Ishwardi upazila of Pabna district. Photo: STAR
A group of people allegedly belonging to the ruling party illegally lifted huge sand from Rooppur Bishwaspara point of the Padma River with dredgers last month. District administration seized two dredgers and stopped the sand lifting there three weeks ago. Ishwardi upazila administration has started selling the sand at Tk 2 per cubic feet (cft) with the help of the law enforcers after feuding groups of local Awami League (AL) foiled tender process for the purpose. “Defying the order from the administration, a few politically influential men of Rooppur village lifted over two lakh cft sand from three points of the river in this village recently. Three weeks ago, the administration stopped the illegal sand lifting and seized huge pile of sand, which is originally public property,” said Ishwardi upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) Md Zakir Hossain. "The upazila administration took an initiative to sell the lifted sand through tender but two groups of the ruling party engaged in violent clashes over the matter, halting the tender process. At last we decided to sell the sand for a reasonable price so that the government is not deprived of the earning," he said. "Following the order of the UNO the land officials of Ishwardi started selling the sand recently. Each cft sand is selling for Tk 2 and several hundred truckloads of sand have already been sold," said Md Aslam, a surveyor of Ishwardi upazila land office. Several villagers have expressed dissatisfaction over the upazila administration's bid to sell the sand without punishing the illegal sand lifters. Indiscriminate sand lifting with dredgers from the river has damaged over 50 acres of cultivated lands in the area this year, said several residents of Rooppur Bishwaspara village during this correspondent's visit to the area last week. "My two-bigha land has gone into the riverbed due to the sand lifting," said Md Abul Hossain of the village. Villagers said some ruling party men led by Tarikul Islam, vice president of Pakshi union unit of Jubo League, lifted sand from the river this year. Asked about the matter, Tarikul Islam said, "A large number of Awami League activists are engaged in sand lifting at different points of the Padma River and an upazila AL leader controls the sand business in the area. Around 25 to 30 young activists of the party started sand lifting at Rooppur Bishwaspara village but the AL leader and his gang with the help of upazila administration stopped it." Ishwardi UNO Md Zakir Hossain said that the upazila administration barred sand lifting from Rooppur Bishwaspara point as the area comprises farmlands.
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