Massive deposits of sand and stone from the upstream during the rainy season badly affects the rivers and haors (wetlands) of the country’s northeastern region.
The rivers, haors and other waterbodies of Sylhet and Sunamganj, two districts of the country’s northeastern region, are being filled up gradually for the upstream sand and stone, while the fertility of the farmland is also being affected badly. Many small and medium lowlands in Sunamganj district have already disappeared and fishes and aquatic life are badly affected. Fertile land of many villages at Tahirpur upazila, including Chanpur, Maram, Burungamara and Rajai, have gone under sand in the last couple of years, causing huge losses of agricultural production, said Md Masuk Mia, chairman of Borodol Uttar Union Parishad at the upazila in Sunamganj.
“During the past few
years, I failed to produce
any crop on my farmland that previously gave three harvests a year. Massive deposits of sand from upstream are responsible for the situation,” said an inhabitant of Rajai village at the upazila.
The massive arrival of sand and stone is changing the pattern of riverbeds and haors and causing harm to several species of flora and fauna in
some upazilas in Sylhet and Sunamganj districts, said Abdul
Hye Al-Hadi, coordinator of environmental organisation Movement to Save Sari River (Sari Nodi Bachao Andolan).
According to environmentalists and river conservationists, unplanned sand mining muddies the water, and destroys plant and fish habitats downstream. It poses a severe threat to local biodiversity and livelihood.
Sharif Jamil, convener of Waterkeepers Bangladesh, said that each monsoon brings huge sand and stones in the northeastern region of the country. As a result, rivers, haors, fields and agricultural lands are being filled up. The massive arrival of sand and stone causes a humanitarian crisis, he added.
“We urgently need to halt the unregulated extraction of sand and stone and restore the water bodies and lands of the country’s northeastern region. Immediate steps should be taken to rehabilitate farmlands in the region. Inter-country initiative needs to be taken urgently,” he said.
In such a situation, Sharif Jamil and some other country’s leading environmental activists have visited some areas in Sylhet and Sunamganj in order to engage local people and organisations so that they can play a vital role in protecting the environment, rivers and biodiversity.
The environmental activists arranged some events in the two districts under the banner of the newly floated civic platform ‘Dhoritri Rokkhay Amra (We for Protecting Earth- Dhora)’ and Waterkeepers Bangladesh. They joined a public rally at Tahirpur upazila in Sunamganj on Friday.
Dhora, Badaghat Union Parishad and Borodal Uttor Union Parishad jointly arranged the public rally where Sultana Kamal, chairman of the advisory board of Dhora and an adviser to the former caretaker government; attended the event as the chief guest.
Sharif Jamil, also member secretary of Dhora; spoke at the event as the chief discussant with Md Nizam Uddin, chairman of Badaghat Union Parishad; in the chair. Dr. Nazia Chowdhury, a professor of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST), Father Joseph Gomez, member of Dhora’s convening committee; and Abdul Karim Chowdhury Kim, another member of the Dhora’s convening committee, also spoke.
Before the public rally, leaders of Dhoritri Rokkhay Amra-Dhora visited Tanguar Haor.
Sultana Kamal said, “We have some responsibility to save the rivers, haors, water bodies and agricultural land. Everyone has to come forward if we want to survive.”
Not only the Jadukata River or Tanguar Haor, many other rivers and haors and lowlands in Sylhet and Sunamganj districts are being affected adversely for the upstream sand and stone.
The Piyain River, an India-Bangladesh trans-boundary river at Gowainghat upazila in Sylhet, is being narrowed gradually due to the accumulation of sand. The river has gradually been buried under a thick layer of sand.
Environmentalists said that the main cause of the Piyain River’s bad situation is unplanned stone quarrying, while the neighbouring Sari River may also face a similar fate for the same reason.
The natural network of water flow in the low-lying areas in Sylhet division is gradually disappearing due to the silting up of rivers and canals. The water bodies in the region are now unable to hold the excessive flow of water during monsoon, leading to waterlogging and severe floods.
The once mighty Surma River is also full of shoals and almost runs dry during winter. The Surma River is narrowing down day by day. Some people have started cultivating crops on the riverbed.
Three farmers of Khalagram village under Rajaganj union at Kangaight upazila in Sylhet have planted paddy seedlings in Surma River near Rajaganj Bazar at the union.
Milu Kanta Das, a youth of Faljur Purbo village of the area told Bangladesh Post that Surma River is no longer like before. Farmers now grow paddy in this river. Apart from around Rajaganj Bazar, paddy seedlings are now planted in this river in some other places.
Like the Jadukata River, Piyain River and Tanguar Haor, many beels in the Hakaluki Haor are being filled up. Majority of the waterbodies at Hakaluki Haor dry out during winter and overflow in the monsoon.
