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Indiscriminate sand lifting in Pabna
Najirganj ferry point, other
establishments face erosion
Mahfuz Alam . Pabna

INDISCRIMINATE sand lifting from the River Padma at Najirganj under Sujanagar upazila of Pabna is threatening Najirganj ferry point, which is the key point of river communications between Pabna and Rajbari and other south-western districts.
   Over 50 thousand people of the Barakhapur, Bulchandrapur, Hashempur and Najirganj market area under Najirganj union face the threat of erosion due to the sand lifting from the riverbed by dredger, locals said, adding, large cracks were found in these areas.
   The mighty river Padma has already devoured the major portion of Najirganj land office (a government office) due to the erosion. Four high schools including a girls’ school, 10/12 primary schools, three madrassah, 20/22 mosques, a government stock house, a mother care centre, two banks and some other institutions face the threat of river erosion due to the indiscriminate sand lifting, locals said.
   Recently an application on behalf of the victims of these villages was submitted to Pabna deputy commissioner’s office demanding to stop the indiscriminate sand lifting from the Padma.
   A group of influential people is lifting sand dredging the riverbeds illegally, locals said in the application. The sand lifting continues despite the protests by the locals and the environmentalists, they said.
   The complainants said the silica sands were being lifted from Barkhapur, Bulchandrapur, Hasampur and some other points of the river under Najirganj union using the dredgers illegally. At least 80 to 100 dredgers are being used for sand lifting, they claimed.
   Meanwhile, the sand traders claimed that they had the land leased for sand lifting. ‘We have taken a lease of the land from the government for sand lifting. The government is getting revenue from this sector. Besides, the sand lifting from the riverbeds keeps the navigability in the river,’ Md Liton Chowdhury, the leaseholder said.
   Official sources said 12.90 acres of sand body at Charmukharji Mouja had been leased this year for Tk 5 lakh. ‘The lease holder must lift sands from the contracted place,’ an official of the district revenue office told New Age Wednesday.
   The villagers claimed that the sand traders were lifting silica sands by dredging the riverbeds illegally from different parts of the river.
   Liton Chowdhury, however, denied the charge and said they only lifted sand from the particular area.
   A vigilance team led by the additional deputy commissioner (revenue) of Pabna, Md Jakir Hossain, visited the spot last week. The team talked to the local people who urged the authorities to stop the sand lifting. The administration imposed a ban on sand lifting temporarily until a probe into the incident.
   The ADC (revenue) told New Age, ‘We are investigating the matter. If the sand lifting is proved to be harmful for the atmosphere then we will take the next course of action.’ He added that there was no official order to use dredger machine for lifting sands.

Four killed in road mishaps
Home Desk

AT LEAST four persons were killed in separate road accidents in Habiganj, Sirajganj and Jhenaidah on Friday.
   In Habiganj, according to a UNB report, two persons, including a minor girl, were killed in at Nabiganj upazila.
   Bolai Chandra Sarkar, 35, was crushed under the wheels of a truck on the Dhaka–Sylhet Highway at Paniumda. He hailed form Brahmanbaria.
   In another incident, Muslima Begum, 6, daughter of Chunnu Miah of village Kamarganj, was run over and killed by a microbus at Ziapur Natun Bazar on Nabiganj-Inatganj road.
   Separate unnatural death cases were filed with the police.
   The Sirajganj correspondent of New Age reports that a minor girl was killed when a Sirajganj-bound bus from Enyayetpur had run over her at Shomeshpur in the district headquarters at about 4:30pm.
   The deceased was Lipi, 3. The police sent the body to hospital morgue for a post-mortem examination.
   The Jhenaidah correspondent adds: A man was killed as he was run over by a truck at Seikhpara Bazar under Sailkupa upazila in the district on Friday.
   The deceased was Abdul Bari, 60, a resident of Fazelpur under the upazila.
   The police said Bari was run over when he was crossing the Jhenaidah–Kushtia Highway.
   A case was filed with the local police. The body was sent to hospital morgue.

3 clinics fined in Moulvibazar
Our Correspondent . Moulvibazar

A MOBILE court fined three private medical facilities Tk 12,000 in Moulvibazar town on Thursday.
   The court also filed four cases against the clinics.
   Magistrate Abdul Wadud Chaudhury conducted the mobile court.
   The court fined the clinics for running the business with expired licences, non-payment of VAT and keeping the environment unhygienic.

Man nabbed for selling
fertiliser on black market
Our Correspondent . Rajshahi

THE Puthia police in Rajshahi arrested a trader for selling fertiliser on the black market on Thursday evening. The police seized 275 kilograms of fertiliser from his possession.
   The arrested is Abul Kalam, 35, of Kathal Baria at Puthia. A case was registered with the Puthia police station.

Fake fertiliser seized,
2 held in Lalmonirhat
Our Correspondent . Lalmonirhat

THE police seized 141 sacks of fake potash fertiliser at Barobari Bazar under the Lalmonirhat district headquarters on Friday. They also arrested two persons in this connection.
   The arrested were identified as Golzar Mollah, 50, of village Joyhari under Barobari and Huda Miah, 48, at village Boliram under Barobari.
   A police team led by sadar thana officer-in-charge Abu Bakkar Siddique raided the house of Golzar Mollah at village Joyhari and the godown of Huda at Barobari Bazar and seized 141 sacks of Indian fake potash fertiliser.

Suspected robber held, looted
goods recovered in Moulvibazar
Our Correspondent . Moulvibazar

THE police in Moulvibazar arrested a man suspected of leading a robbers’ gang in possession of looted goods and mobile phone sets at a village in the district headquarters on Thursday.
   The police said they had conducted a raid on a house at Uttar Mostafapur and arrested Shukur Ali, of Balaganj in Sylhet. The police produced him in court which sent him to jail.
   The house of one Ashraf Ali at Chandpur of Khalilpur in the district headquarters was looted when robbers took away an estimated Tk 5.8 lakh in cash and gold, and goods.
   Assistant superintendent of police Ashraful Azim said Shukur Ali had admitted to being involved in the robbery.

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