Two Jailed in Sunamganj Over Illegal Sand Extraction

Two people have been sentenced to imprisonment in Sunamganj, the haor district of Sylhet Division, on allegations of illegally extracting sand. According to initial reports, the sentences came as part of the administration's ongoing drive against unauthorised sand lifting from rivers and haor banks in the district.

The names of the two convicted men, the length of their prison terms, and the exact area of the district where they were extracting sand have not been published in the initial report. The full picture of the case will therefore have to wait for formal information from the administration.

Sunamganj is a district of haors, rivers and wetlands. Vast areas go under water in the monsoon, while sand accumulates on river chars and banks in the dry season. As demand for sand in construction has grown, allegations of sand being lifted illegally, alongside legal leases, surface in the district's rivers every year.

Illegal sand extraction is not only a matter of evaded government revenue; it is directly linked to changes in river courses, bank erosion, damage to haor embankments and cropland, and destruction of the aquatic environment. In an erosion-prone area like Sunamganj, uncontrolled lifting can worsen monsoon damage, which is why local residents remain concerned.

Under the sand quarry and soil management law, lifting sand outside designated quarries or in breach of lease conditions is a punishable offence. District administrations and law-enforcement agencies periodically fine and jail illegal extractors through mobile courts and drives, and equipment and vessels are also seized at times.

This sentencing is part of that continuing effort. By jailing two men, the administration has sought to send a message that the illegal sand trade will get no quarter in the haor district, local observers believe.

Some local residents, however, allege that while small extractors are caught in the field, the bigger syndicates behind the illegal sand trade often remain untouched. Without greater transparency in quarry management and regular monitoring, they say, drives alone will not fully stop the practice.

The issue also matters for haor farmers. Embankments are crucial for protecting the boro crop, and indiscriminate sand lifting from rivers and canals can weaken their foundations. That is why demands to stop illegal extraction grow louder in the district every dry season.

Once the administration formally announces the details of this sentencing, the identities of the convicted men and the full picture of the case will be known. Until then, this much is certain — two people in Sunamganj must serve prison time on allegations of illegal sand extraction.

Other districts of Sylhet Division have long faced similar allegations of illegal sand and stone lifting from rivers. Many see the Sunamganj sentences as a warning to illegal extractors across the division.

What remains to be seen is how far illegal sand extraction falls in the district after these sentences, and how sustained the administration's drives remain. For the sake of the haor environment and the riverbanks, that continuity is what matters most, concerned quarters say.