Md. Dulal Hossain Raju, Jaintapur (Sylhet)

The Jaflong Bridge, a long-standing dream of the people of Jaflong, is at serious risk due to illegal mining of stones and sand from the Piain River in Gowainghat, Sylhet.

In early 2014, following a writ petition filed by the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA), the extraction of stone and sand using machinery from the stone quarry in the area adjacent to the Piain River in Jaflong was banned.

On February 18, 2015, the High Court declared the area adjacent to the Piain-Dawki River in Jaflong as an Environmentally and Ecologically Critical Area (ECA), but illegal extraction of stone and sand has not stopped. To prevent environmental damage, the Ministry of Mineral Resources declared a ban on extraction of stone and sand from the Piain-Dawki River in Jaflong on September 1, 2016.

In continuation of this, the use of machinery in the Jaflong quarry has not stopped, and illegal extraction of stone and sand has not stopped. As a result, just as Jaflong, the daughter of nature, is facing natural disasters, people living along the riverbanks are in fear of river erosion. The pillars of the Jaflong Bridge built on the Dawki River are at serious risk.

The Khasia tribals have lost their betel nut gardens, educational institutions, mosques-madrasas, residences, crop lands and tea gardens. In such a situation, the local administration is helpless against the stone and sand mining gang members. Several people from the local area, who did not want to be named, said that since the student-public movement on August 5, sand and stone looting has been going on in Jaflong under the leadership of some BNP, Yubadal and Chhatra Dal leaders who were named and expelled in an attempt to tarnish the reputation of the BNP.

Some people are again using the influence of BNP and Jubo Dal to tarnish the name of the administration and removing the tarpaulin from the sand and stone carts. All in all, these are the guardians of Jaflong. During the field inspection, it was seen that the bottom of the Jaflong Bridge built on the Jaflong Piyin River is being excavated and sand and stone are being extracted.

Ballaghat's Jhumpar, Nayabasti, Kandubasti, Ballapunji's environmentally critical areas of Tilaket are being excavated with a rice machine, Feludar, Ballapunji. Ballaghat tourist spot, Dokanpat settlement and Ballapunji Government Primary School are at risk due to the excavation of stones in Tilaket. Meanwhile, stones and sand are being excavated using machines in the Dauki River at night.

The excavated stones and sand are being transported in hundreds of trucks via the road below Ballaghat Mosque and the road to Jhumpar Fair Ground. Especially at night, sand is being excavated from the river adjacent to Chailakhel village starting from Zero Point using Feludar machines. In this regard, sand is being extracted from under the bridge over the Dauki River in Jaflong Bazar, as a result of which there is a fear of a major accident due to the collapse of the pillars of the Jaflong Bridge built on the river. Recently, the sand extraction situation in Jaflong has taken a terrible shape.'

In this regard, Gowainghat Police Station OC Sarkar Tofail Ahmed said, 'I am new here, after I came, I have been trying to completely stop it, repeated raids are being conducted but to no avail. In this regard, Sylhet Deputy Commissioner Sher Mohammad. Mahbub Murad said, 'If anyone extracts stones or sand by destroying the natural resources of Jaflong, the ECA area, which is rich in natural resources, they will be brought under the law.

Since August 5, a case has been filed in the respective police station regarding the widespread looting of stones and sand from the Piain River in the Jaflong tourist area. Efforts are being made to identify those involved in the incident.