Worker killed in illegal sand mining accident on Bangladesh river
Photo Collected
A 20-year-old laborer was killed on Wednesday morning after being crushed between two boats during illegal sand extraction operations on the Mahadeo River in Kalmakanda, Netrokona. The victim, identified as Rifat, the son of Sekul Mia from the Gandirgaon village of Sunamganj’s Madhyanagar upazila, succumbed to his injuries before arriving at the Kalmakanda Upazila Health Complex.
Local residents report that the tragedy occurred in the Baruakona area of Rongchati union, where illegal sand mining has persisted despite explicit judicial prohibitions. Community members have voiced growing alarm, noting that the unregulated extraction has accelerated riverbank erosion, placing residential homes, agricultural land, local markets, and critical infrastructure at significant risk. Many families in the region have already lost their livelihoods and properties to the encroaching river over the past few years.
Eyewitness accounts suggest a highly organized operation, with roughly 200 to 220 motorized boats extracting sand daily from dusk until dawn. Once gathered, the sand is stockpiled along the riverbanks and subsequently transported to various locations via trolleys and dump trucks.
While local authorities have attempted to intervene, their efforts have faced setbacks. Rongchati union land official Ali Azgar stated that physical barriers installed to block the river route for unauthorized vessels have been repeatedly dismantled by the operators, a matter he said has been escalated to higher authorities.
District Commissioner Khandaker Mushfiqur Rahman confirmed that there are no government-sanctioned sand quarries currently permitted along the Mahadeo River. Kalmakanda Upazila Executive Officer N.M. Abdullah Al Mamun emphasized that enforcement efforts remain ongoing, citing recent mobile court operations that resulted in several prison sentences and the seizure of multiple vessels involved in the illegal trade. He added that measures to curb the illicit activity are being intensified to prevent further incidents.
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