The government is formulating a policy on the extraction of sand from rivers where night-time extraction will be banned said State Minister for Water Resources Zahid Faruk.
The minister said this at a “BSRF Dialogue” arranged by Bangladesh Secretariat Reporters Forum at the secretariat on Monday.
He said sand mining is the prime reason for river erosion and the business is booming though the investment is very low.
“We cannot stop sand extraction from rivers as it will increase the price of sand and different development projects will be hampered. We urge the concerned businessmen to follow the government’s guidelines but they mostly lift sand from the riverbanks where there are cement blocks and mud embankments. Even if we use iron-made embankments it won’t last long for sand extraction,” he added.
The minister said the proposed policy will soon be placed during the Cabinet meeting. “So we suggest the sand extraction can be done from 6am to 6pm so that everyone including the locals sees the matter.”
Regarding Teesta water-sharing deal with India, the minister said: “We are concerned about the Teesta deal and want to make it happen. The progress in this regard has slowed down due to the chief minister of West Bengal. We may soon be able to resolve the issue.”
Zahid said: “I have been keeping an eye on the Sunamganj flood situation from the very beginning. A project worth Tk1,547 crore has been taken to dredge 14 rivers there. We will try to get it passed by Ecnec by October and start activities before the next monsoon.”
He said even if 20% of the work is done before the monsoon, there will be no more damage in the haor area of Sunamganj.
BSRF President Tapan Biswas presided over the program conducted by BSRF General Secretary Masudul Haque.
