Countless chars (river islands) and submerged lands are succumbing to the country's two main rivers, Padma and Meghna. Due to the complexities of water management and political disputes, dredging and sand extraction remain halted, causing these rivers to swell and erode their banks on a daily basis.

New chars are emerging as a result. This is impeding the natural breeding of the national fish, Hilsa. The habitat for Hilsa in the Chandpur area along the Padma and Meghna rivers has shrunk.

In Chandpur City, North Matlab, and Haimchar upazilas, hundreds of sandbars have emerged in the Meghna River. These sandbars have become visible in countless numbers. Even within a kilometer from the banks of the river in the Banshgari Mouza area of Chandpur, one can find sandbars within the river's interior. Many of these sandbars have taken on complete island-like forms and have been given names. They have appeared in places like Chirachar, Shilar Char, Ghodamara Char, Jahazmara Char, Laxmimara Char, Bangashia Char, Char Mukesh, Char Jagannath, Char Nandanalal, Char Prakash, Dakshin Poyar Char, Nilar Char, and countless others. In the dry season, these islands are inhabited, and many of them even have houses. The situation is similar along the Padma River from Rajbari's Daulatdia to Chandpur, as reported by the local authorities.

Local residents said that a dispute over the lease of sandbars between shareholders in Chandpur has escalated into a legal battle involving two leaders of the ruling party, which has reached the High Court. Subsequently, following the court's directives, sand extraction activities have been suspended in the Meghna River. On the other hand, sand traders claim that despite their appeals to the Chandpur District Administration through written complaints, they have received no response or action regarding the identification of suitable sandbars for leasing.

It has been found from documents that after applying to a government agency to lease sand extraction in the Padma and Meghna rivers, a letter was sent to the Chandpur District Administration from the Ministry of Land on September 29 of the previous year, requesting that if the islands and sandbars are suitable for extraction according to the law, the lease process should be initiated.

In response, the Chandpur District Administrator informed the Ministry of Land, "Regarding the leasing of these sandbars’ extraction, the possibility of verification for announcing them as sand quarries is still pending as of July 4, 2022, in light of the decision made during the meeting of the District Sand Quarry Management Committee." However, sand extraction has not yet begun in the sandbars.

Chandpur District Administrator Kamrul Hasan told Bangladesh Pratidin, "So far, there has been no announcement of sand quarries for sand extraction. However, the possibility is under investigation. When the sand quarries are announced, sand extraction will commence. In this area, there are sandbars, but no complaints have been filed regarding the sandbars. Due to the sandbars, there have been obstructions in the movement of boats, but no boat owner's association has raised such complaints. If they do, we will look into the matter."

According to the sources from the Dhaka Divisional Commissioner, for more than two decades, sands from the rivers Padma, Meghna, Shitalakshya, Dholeshwari, and Brahmaputra have been carrying over Dhaka and various district cities and government-private development projects and low-lying land reclamation work have been carried out. The sandbars were leased out by the government each year, generating revenue ranging from one to one and a half billion Bangladeshi Taka. This also ensured the proper flow of rivers.

Due to the suspension of sand extraction, demand for sand is being met by bringing it from Sylhet, Pabna, and Rajshahi regions, resulting in more than a twofold increase in the price of sand. This has led to a significant increase in expenses for various government and private development projects, industrial factories, and housing projects in and around the capital.

On the other hand, sand traders said that due to the suspension of sand extraction in the Meghna River in March of 2022, they have incurred an investment of nearly 200 billion Bangladeshi Taka. Around 300 dredgers and 1,200 bulkheads have become unemployed.

They said that the violation of terms in some lease documents has led to illegal sand extraction on the riverbanks, causing the destruction of farmlands and houses of local residents and resulting in many incidents. In view of these developments and to uphold the rule of law, the management committees of sandbars in these districts, namely Munshiganj, Narayanganj, and Chandpur, suspended all sand leasing activities after 2016. However, illegal sand extraction has not been completely stopped. Those who were legally extracting sand have been affected the legal sand extractors the most by this situation.

According to the sources from the Dhaka Division Commissioner's office, during the coalition government led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), all sandbars in the country were leased through the Mineral Resources Development Bureau (BRDB). After 2001, this organization granted permission for sand extraction from 32 areas in Munshiganj, 29 in Narayanganj, and 15 in Chandpur districts. Local members of parliament used to send lists of those selected for sand leasing through a letter to the authorities, and only those individuals received sand leasing rights. The decision to issue sand leasing permits was made through open tenders under the jurisdiction of district administrators with the approval of the military-backed caretaker government in 2007. In this process the average rate for sandbars was 40 lakh taka, while Narayanganj got 24 areas, Munshiganj got 10, and Chandpur got 5.

On the other hand, in 2015, Selim Khan, the Chairman of Lakshmipur Union Parishad (UP) in Chandpur Sadar Upazila, applied to the High Court for permission to conduct a hydrographic survey in the 21 moujas located in Chandpur Sadar and Haimchar at his own expense.

On April 5, 2018, the High Court directed the district administrator to grant permission for sand extraction from all such sandbars in that area. Since then, sand extraction has been ongoing in that area until March of the following year. After four years, in March 2022, the government appealed against the court's decision. In May, the court directed the suspension of all types of sand extraction from the Meghna River and various other rivers.

@ The article was published on print and online versions of The Bangladesh Pratidin on September 13, 2023, and has been rewritten in English by Tanvir Raihan.