Investigate involvement of the politically powerful
Completely disregarding the threat of erosion of Guchchhogram at Dahagram's Barabari village in Patgram upazila, sand is being illegally lifted using a shallow machine from a pond, according to a report published by this newspaper on Monday. The locals, according to the report, are not unaware of the threat that this poses, nor are they oblivious to the fact that this is completely illegal. But as we have seen countless times in similar cases, the involvement of a politically powerful person, in this case the UP Chairmen, has meant that residents of Guchchhogram are powerless.
The owner of the shallow machine, when asked, has made it clear that he was being paid by the UP chairman for lifting sand, and the UP Chairman himself has said that the sand was being lifted for earth filling for building another Guchchhogram. And while he claims that the existing Guchchhogram will not be harmed, we cannot in any way agree with him. On what basis is this being claimed—has any study been carried out? In any case, the question of legality still remains, and the residents are right to fear that in the coming rainy season, the Guchchhogram might be devoured.
In the past, we have seen the damage that illegal sand lifting can cause—from ruining rivers to damaging embankments. And in most cases, the involvement of the influential (politicians) has meant that they continued unabated. The UNO, according to our report, was unaware of the matter, and had promised to take action to stop sand lifting. Despite our scepticism about that promise, we hope that he will act fast. At the same time, we need national initiatives to tackle these cases of ubiquitous corruption on the part of the politically powerful that has become the norm.
- Courtesy: The Daily Star /Editorial/ June 26, 2018
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