Residents of Amir-Khan Kandi village formed a human chain, demanding removal of an allegedly illegal dredger they say is worsening Arial Khan river erosion and threatening renewed displacement.
Residents formed a human chain along an erosion-hit riverbank in Faridpur’s Sadarpur upazila on Wednesday, demanding the removal of an allegedly illegal dredger they say has worsened erosion along the Arial Khan river and deepened fears of further displacement.
The demonstration was held at Amir-Khan Kandi village in Char Manair union, where about 50 men and women gathered on the fragile riverbank to press authorities to stop sand extraction and protect their homes and land.
Among them was 52-year-old widow Nurunnahar Begum, who said she had already lost her home and property to river erosion and had been living with her family for years in rented accommodation on someone else’s land.
“We are people broken by river erosion, living on rented land owned by others,” she said with visible anguish. “Our land is re-emerging and we thought we could finally build a home again. Our demand to the government is that this dredger must be removed. Otherwise we will suffer even more and we will not be able to build our homes.”
She said erosion had intensified after a local BNP leader allegedly installed a dredger on newly emerged land in the river.
The protesters alleged that Abdul Razzak Khan, joint convener of the Sadarpur upazila BNP, had recently set up the dredger illegally in the Amir-Khan area of the river. They said the administration had already been informed but the dredger had not been removed.
They also accused him of trying to continue sand extraction by intimidating local residents and creating pressure on them. Abdul Razzak denied the allegations against him.
Participants in the human chain said around 90 percent of Char Manair union is surrounded by the Padma and the Arial Khan rivers. The area is now home to about 14,500 people. For generations, many families in the union have suffered from river erosion and nearly 1,000 acres of land have been swallowed by the river, they said.
Even after losing their homes to erosion and rebuilding settlements on the opposite bank, residents said the new settlement area has also come under threat this year.
Local resident Md Farhad Hossain called for intervention by local lawmaker Shahidul Islam Babul and the administration to prevent further erosion.
“The Arial Khan river has been washing away homes for a long time,” he said. “A new stretch of bank has emerged and people are thinking about building homes again. But now a dredger has been installed under the leadership of an influential person in the area.”
“If sand is extracted with this dredger, no homes will be built there. The bank where people have already settled will also face severe erosion.”
Schoolteacher Md Golam Mostafa, who joined the protest, said the area was already vulnerable and warned that dredging would make matters worse.
“The river is already eroding the land and if a dredger is installed, it will create a crater-like pit and intensify the erosion,” he said.
“Our land will not re-emerge and people in the area will be uprooted from their land and homes. So we want this dredger to be removed immediately.”
Abdul Razzak Khan said a primary school and a high school built on his own land had recently been damaged in a storm. He said two new rooms had been constructed there and sand was being collected to fill the school grounds.
He also said the local member of parliament and the upazila administration had been informed about the dredging plan.
Sadarpur Upazila Nirbahi Officer Sharif Shawn said no permission had been granted for the dredger.
“I have learned about the dredger placement verbally,” he told journalists. “I have already asked the union chairman to prevent it.”
“If they do not remove the dredger on their own initiative, we will be forced to take legal action later.”
Source: The Bdnews24
