Staff Reporter, Habiganj/

In different upazilas of Habiganj district, the festival of extracting sand from Khoai river is going on illegally. Hundreds of shallow machines or dredger machines are being used to extract sand from the river without respecting any rules. Several bridges are under threat. Communication can be lost at any time by collapse. It is said that hundreds of people from different villages will suffer. An influential local group involved in this work. As the risk of river erosion is increasing, the fertility of crop land is being lost due to the accumulation of sand piles on the river banks. On the other hand, there is no end to the suffering of the common people who travel along the river.

On the surface, it can be seen that hundreds of dredger machines have been installed in the river in the area adjacent to the protection dam of Amkandi dangerous Khoai river including Machulia, Kibria bridge, Kamrapur bridge, Shaistaganj new bridge, old bridge, Kazirkhil Khoai bridge of Chunarughat, Pakuria Khoai bridge, Rajar Bazar Khoai bridge area in Habiganj city. being

Trucks, tractors and excavators are entering the banks of the river through 30 points on the border of Khoai river in the upazila. Defense embankments are being cut indiscriminately to take them to the river banks. It is endangering the environment. Apart from this, although sand mining is prohibited within one kilometer of the bridge, sand is being mined around the bridge constantly. To stop this illegal activity, the local administration repeatedly fined through the mobile court, but after a few days, it got involved again. Due to heavy sand taking by trucks and tractors every day, the defense dams, bridges and houses on both sides of the river are under threat along with the environmental damage. Even the roads are crumbling. Apart from this, three people who have leased different parts of Khoai river are extracting sand illegally. They are extracting sand and soil without following Sand and Soil Management Act 2010. As a result, local people complain that some dishonest officials of Habiganj Water Development Board are involved with sand traders. So they are not taking any action in this regard. Environmentalists have urged to take quick action in this regard.