Environmental Agency Fines Contractor 5 Million Taka for Illegal Sand Dredging in Cox’s Bazar
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The Department of Environment has ordered Tokyo-Max International Ltd. to pay 5.04 million taka in compensation for the unauthorized extraction of sand from the ecologically critical Maheshkhali sea channel. The contracting firm must deposit the funds into a designated government account within seven working days, or face further legal action.
The penalty follows an enforcement hearing held on July 19 at the Department of Environment’s Chittagong regional office. Officials determined that the company had been operating without the mandatory environmental clearance. Three company executives—Project Director Md. Akbar Hossain Patwary, Managing Director Md. Alamgir, and Project Manager Kojima—have been named as responsible parties in the enforcement case.
বিজ্ঞাপন
According to Khandakar Mahmud Pasha, deputy director of the Department of Environment’s Cox’s Bazar office, field inspections confirmed that the company used heavy-duty dredgers to extract approximately 200,000 cubic feet of sand from the Hamidiadia and Thakurtala areas of the channel. The extracted material was reportedly being utilized for the construction of a port access road connected to the Matarbari deep-sea port project.
This industrial activity, conducted without environmental clearance, violates the Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act of 1995. The regulatory action follows a broader controversy surrounding the project’s sand procurement process. Earlier this year, the district’s sand quarry management committee, chaired by the Deputy Commissioner, authorized the extraction of over 63 million cubic feet of sand for the port road construction. Concerns were raised regarding the pricing, as the sand was reportedly sold to the contractor at a rate of 2.37 taka per cubic foot, significantly lower than the prevailing market rate of approximately 16 taka.
বিজ্ঞাপন
Environmental advocacy groups have warned that extensive dredging in the Maheshkhali channel threatens the stability of the nearby Cox’s Bazar airport runway, accelerates riverbank erosion, disrupts water flow, and risks severe damage to local biodiversity.
The legality of the project’s procurement process is also under judicial scrutiny. In June, a Supreme Court lawyer filed a public interest litigation petition with the High Court, challenging the lack of an open tender process. The petition argues that the direct allocation of sand extraction rights to a single company without competitive bidding is a violation of the Sand Quarry and Soil Management Act of 2010.
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