No care for resources

Indiscriminate extraction of white clay, also known as Sada Mati, has continued unabated for long in hilly areas of Mymensingh's Dhobaura upazila and the authorities concerned have apparently been looking away.

Locals said the plundering began years ago and hundreds of Sal trees had also been cut down to collect the clay from five hillocks in Bhedikura area, causing immense damage to the local environment and ecology.

White clay is used as a raw material for making ceramics products which have huge demand at home and abroad.

Currently, Bangladesh Agro-ceramics Company is taking white clay from one of the hillocks at Bhedikura. The firm has been working in the area for several years.

Quoting workers and officials at the company, Gaziur Rahman, chairman of Dakshin Maizpara Union Parishad, said, the quantity of white clay being extracted by the company was much higher than it was mentioned in the Demand Order (DO) letter.

The DO, issued in December last year, permitted the company to collect 16,000 sacks, each containing 50kgs of white clay, but it took approximately 60,000 sacks, he claimed. 

The company refuted the allegation.

Its local representative Mohammad Ainuddin said they were working following the DO issued by the ministry concerned (Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources).

He, however, admitted that they had not yet collected the clearance from the Department of Environment (DoE) in the district.

Contacted, Jamir Uddin, senior chemist at the DoE, said the company did not even contact them for the clearance certificate.

The union chairman said he had informed the authorities concerned  about the alleged plundering many times in the past but to no avail.

Also, he said some 200 indigenous people in the area were in constant fear of landslides during the rainy season due to the indiscriminate cutting of hillocks.

Officials from the authorities concerned were supposed to monitor the clay extraction which they never did, he alleged.

Anisuzzaman Khan, Dhubaura Upazila Nirbahi Officer, alleged that the company had violated four out of the five terms and conditions mentioned in a previous DO letter.

“I had looked into the matter and submitted a letter to the authorities concerned last year.”

Later on, the company had to suspend their work for a few months, he claimed.

The Daily Star could not verify the claim.

“Legal action should be taken against the company immediately, if it is still involved in plundering,” the UNO said.

Gazi Mohammad Golam Kibria Tapon, proprietor of the company, could not be reached despite repeated attempts.

Recently, the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (Bela) filed a writ petition with the High Court, seeking to stop clay extraction without DoE clearance, and destruction of hills and hillocks at Mejpara, Arapara and Pacakahania mouzas in Durgapur upazila in Netrokona.

On March 14 this year, the court issued a ruling asking to know why indiscriminate and unplanned cutting of hills and extraction of clay without the environment clearance should not be declared illegal.