Human Chain in Mymensingh Protests Unplanned Dredging, Sand Trade and Encroachment of the Old Brahmaputra

The citizens' organisation Mymensingh Mancha has formed a human chain and held a protest rally in Mymensingh against the unplanned dredging of the Old Brahmaputra river, the sand trade and the encroachment of the river.

The programme, held on Friday afternoon in the Kacharighat area of the city, was presided over by Imtiaz Ahmed, chief coordinator of Mymensingh Mancha.

Speakers at the programme included the organisation's co-chief coordinator Abu Bakkar Siddique Rumel, organiser engineer M A Jinnah, Md. Kamruzzaman Saj and Md. Askar Ali.

Also speaking were Nazmul Hasan Raju Khan, Md. Anwar Hossain, Shahriar Ahmed Ashik, Sajeev Akand, Abu Saif Muhammad Saifullah, Md. Anwarul Haque and Md. Rafiqul Islam.

Speakers at the rally said encroachers are running rampant on the nearly dead Brahmaputra river. No structure will be allowed to be built by encroaching on the river.

They said that in 2019, a dredging project was taken up under the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), with an initial cost of around Tk 3,000 crore, to improve the navigability and restore the Old Brahmaputra river.

The plan was to dredge 227 kilometres, from the mouth of the Brahmaputra river to Tok in Kapasia. But even seven years after the project began, the dredging work has not shown the expected progress.

The speakers further said the Brahmaputra river is deeply connected with the environment, biodiversity and livelihoods of the people of this region.

They therefore demanded an end to unplanned dredging, the sand trade and encroachment.

The speakers demanded that the river be saved by dredging it in a scientific and planned manner to restore its natural flow.