Bangladesh News

Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) in a letter has asked four police stations to take legal actions against any unauthorised sand lifting from Buriganga and Turag river beds near Basila and Jhaochar.

BIWTA Senior Deputy Director Md Golam Kabir, who is Dhaka River Port Officer, informed the officers-in-charge of Keraniganj, Keraniganj Model, Kamrangirchar and Hazaribagh police stations that no organisation has permission at present to extract sand from the riverbeds stretching from Kholamora to Basila. The said river area is a part of Dhaka River Port.

The letter dated August 10 mentioned that any sand extraction in the said river areas at the moment would be illegal and violation of port act, port rules and inland water transport ordinance of 1976 and requested the police to take legal action against any illegal operation and owners of dredgers used for sand lifting.

The letter said that a work order was issued to Messrs Ali International Associates on June 26. But following a media report, the work order was suspended on July 12, as the contractor had engaged more dredgers than the permitted number violating the terms and conditions of sand lifting.

The BIWTA permitted Messrs Ali International Associates to extract 10 lakh cubic feet of sand from the areas near Basila and Jhaochar with the help of three dredgers over a period of 30 days.

The company, however, deployed 14 powerful dredgers in the area to lift a huge quantity of sand. They are now selling sand worth over a half million taka every day to the booming construction sector of the country.

The suspension order was forwarded to the police stations accordingly, said the letter.

Ali International Associates later filed a writ petition with the High Court that issued a rule nisi upon the BIWTA and asked to show cause, but did not stay the suspension order, said the BIWTA letter.

In defiance of the suspension order, the company returned to the area on July 31 to lift sand from the riverbed while the police played a silent role.

On August 10, The Daily Star published an investigative report on the anomalies in the sand extraction business of BIWTA by engaging private commercial sand lifters.