The digging of mud along the river bank threatening the river environment, Bangladesh

Even before the brick-making season, local brick kiln owners got accused of digging mud from the char and banks of the Bishkhali River in Barguna District Bangladesh.

The city Protection Dam by Bishkhali River erosion at Betagi Upazila is under threat due to mud digging from very close to the flood control dam. The locals complained that the agricultural lands of char areas are also disappearing due to mud digging.

There are six brickfields on the banks of the mighty Bishkhali River in the Baintaki area of ​the Kakchira union of Patharghata Upazila . Recently, the landowners have started digging mud from chars and river banks to make bricks. The mud got dug from very close to the flood control dam.

According to the locals, every year, during starting of the brick-making season, the owners of the brick kilns dig soil from the river chars, including its banks. But this year, the soil digging started before the start of the season. There is a danger that the flood control dam will be damaged.

However, Golam Mostafa Kislu, owner of RSB Bricks on the river banks, denied the allegations and said that the place where the mud got cut was his recorded property. There is no river land here. The information about digging the soil on the banks of the river is not valid.

Shahadat Hossain, the owner of Al Mamun Enterprise BRICS and the former mayor of Barguna Municipality, also claimed that soil got cut from his land. He claims that there is no river or government land there.

Golam Mostafa, general secretary of the district brick kiln owner’s association, said, “There are about 50 brickfields in the district. One-third of them do not have a permit to make bricks.” However, he claimed that those with brick kiln permits are making bricks following the government rules and regulations.

Mamun Aur Rashid, a BIWTA (Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority) Barguna river port official, said six brickfields from the Bainchatki area to Kalir Char. As soon as the char woke up in the river, the downstream owners took possession of the char. The water flows get obstructed.

Habibur Rahman, Deputy Commissioner of Barguna, said that he did not know anything about digging soil from river chars and banks. If the mud is cut off from the river bank and the channel of the river changes as a result of the brickyard’s construction by occupying the char, we will take action against the brickyard’s owners.