Sand Lifted from Karnaphuli at Parki in Anwara, Tunnel Service Area and Embankment Feared at Erosion Risk

Sand is allegedly being lifted with dredgers and booster machines from the Karnaphuli River next to Parki sea beach in Anwara upazila, Chattogram. Local people fear that lifting sand this way could put Parki beach, the Water Development Board embankment and the Karnaphuli Tunnel service area, built at a cost of Tk 503 crore, at risk of erosion.

The upazila administration says there is no permission to lift sand from the river next to the beach. Anwara assistant commissioner (land) and executive magistrate Md Abu Jafar Majumder said, 'There is no approval for lifting sand from the river adjoining Parki beach. We will inquire who is lifting the sand and take necessary action.'

On Monday afternoon, two bulkheads and a dredger were seen in the sea near the Karnaphuli Tunnel service area at Parki beach. Two booster machines were installed on the coast. Sand was being taken through pipelines to fill land for a power plant under construction.

Local people say sand has been lifted from the Karnaphuli River in this way for the past 12 days. They say the lifting could disrupt the river's natural flow and the coastal balance, and fear the situation could become more severe during the monsoon or a cyclone.

On Saturday and Monday afternoon, sand was seen being lifted by dredgers from various points of the Karnaphuli River next to Parki beach. Pipelines laid through the casuarina grove carry the sand near the tunnel service area, where it is stored on bulkheads and then used, through a pipeline of about one kilometre, to fill the power plant land.

Inquiries found that a Dhaka contractor named Premier Company is doing the power plant land-filling work with the help of political leaders of local Barasat Union. The work is supervised by the firm's supervisor Md Saiful Islam along with 10 to 15 workers.

To protect the coastal area, the Forest Department planted casuarina trees on about 80 hectares in Parki and the surrounding area in phases in 1993-94 and 2002. As the trees grew, the area became known as a tourist spot, and local people also call it the casuarina grove.

Local residents and several tourists visiting the beach said the way sand is being lifted from Parki to fill the power plant land could put Parki beach and the Water Development Board embankment, built at a cost of crores of taka, at risk. The Karnaphuli Tunnel service area, built for Tk 503 crore, is also threatened, they said, calling on the local administration to strengthen monitoring.

Sand coming through the dredger pipeline across the beach was also seen bringing up fish of various species. Several local people were seen collecting the fish with nets and by hand.

Parki residents Habib, Hasan and Azgar said local people had objected to sand being lifted from the river next to the beach. At first local people resisted and police also came to the spot, but now no one is resisting. They allege Premier Company is doing the sand lifting, but the contractor's name is not on the project site signboard, and they say there is also a lack of clarity over port authority permission. A yellow signboard placed beside the casuarina trees in Parki carried the names and logos of Power Grid Bangladesh PLC, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and China National Technical Import and Export Corporation, but no representative of those organisations was found on the spot.

Premier supervisor Md Saiful Islam said, 'We are engaged only for the filling work. The organisation engaged in the project work has hired bulkheads, a dredger and two booster machines from our company under contract. But we know nothing about where the sand is being taken from or whether there is permission.'

Premier engineer Mohammad Ismail, on the other hand, said, 'We are lifting sand from a specified place in the Karnaphuli River with permission from the Chattogram Port Authority and unloading it from bulkheads at the power plant.' He also claimed sand cannot be lifted with the bulkheads and dredger positioned in the sea.