At least 300 acres of cropland in Banishanta Union of Dakop in Khulna is being filled with sand for the Pasur River dredging project.
To legitimize the move, the authorities have labelled the croplands as barren land, the local farmers have alleged.
The sand filing project is a part of the government’s effort to increase navigability of Pasur River to upgrade the Mongla Port.
According to the Balumahal and Soil Management Law 2010, sand filling on agricultural land is completely illegal.
In a media call at the Dhaka Reporters’ Unity on Sunday, farmers called for the intervention of the prime minister to stop the filling of the croplands.
A report on “Impact of Pasur River Dredging on the Environment and the Life of People of The Surrounding Areas” was also launched at the press conference jointly organized by Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (Bapa) and Bangladesh Environmental Network (BEN).
In January 2020, the dredging project to extract 21 million cubic metres of soil and sand from the Pasur River was approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) in order to upgrade the capacity of the port.
Due to the lack of land at Mongla Port, the authorities decided to dump a huge amount of sand on 700 acres in Mongla and 300 acres of lands in Banishanta.
However, the designated land at Banishanta is actually three croplands and inhabitants of 5,000 people of that union who are dependent on agriculture for livelihood, the speakers said at the conference.
According to the Balumahal and Soil Management Law 2010, sand filling on agricultural land is completely illegal.
The assistant commissioner of Dakop Upazila has already submitted a report to the Khulna deputy commissioner’s office warning that this project will generate further unrest in the area.
Satyajit Gain, a farmer and general secretary of Dakop Farmers’ League, said: “They did the same at Chila Union of Bangerhat in 2014.
“Since then, not a single grass has grown on that land.”
He said that, when a fertile land is filled with saline sand, it would certainly lose productivity and the people who dependent on it would have to suffer.
Satyajit also complained that the port authorities had offered only Tk200,000 as compensation per acre for a period of ten years whereas their income from these lands is around Tk500,000 per year.
“Dakop is famous in the entire country for growing delicious watermelon throughout the year. Previously, we were dependent on the Sundarbans for livelihood.
“But for the last ten years, our families have become financially solvent by turning the shrimp farms into three crop lands,” says Suporna Roy, a farmer of Banishanta.
“If this is taken away, we either have to move out or we will once again have to be dependent on the Sundarbans,” she added.
The port authorities have sent a notice against 2,500 people of the union to acquire the 300-acre lands from them by February 27. However, locals have rejected that notice.
“We’ll bleed here but won’t leave the right of our lands,” said Suparna.
Meanwhile, representatives of Bapa have leveled allegations against the government officials for facilitating the industrialists at the cost of the lives of poor people and an environment that is ecologically critical.
“The crops which are grown at Banishanta serve the country. This area is a role model for the saline regions of the country where the saline soil is being turned into cultivated lands,” said Bapa General Secretary Sharif Jamil.
“A project submitted to the state minister of shipping cited alternative lands for sand dumping. Still, for unknown reasons, the government officials have targeted Banishanta to cater to the interests of the businessmen,” he added.
The Bapa official complained that the government officials were involved in a nexus of corruption with the Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) bottling industries to make a way for them to establish industries at Banishanta.
