A portion of the Kumar river is being filled up with sand for construction of a permanent bus stand in Magura's Sreepur upazila.

Sreepur Upazila Parishad has been filling the riverbank for the last three months by extracting sand from the same riverbed using dredger machines, locals said.

According to the law, filling up the riverbank without permission from the Department of Environment (DoE) is a criminal offence, yet Sreepur Upazila Parishad has already filled up around 140-feet-long and 120-feet-wide portion of the riverbank.

Local people alleged that the illegal act is not only threatening a big bridge, just 200 feet from the dredging spot, over the river, but also hampering study of several hundred students of Government Mahesh Chandra Secondary School, located near the proposed bus terminal.

A number of guardians and several teachers of the institution said filling up the riverbank for construction of any public establishment by excavating sands from the same river it is completely unlawful.

Moreover, if a bus stand is built here, academic activities of about 700 students of the nearby secondary school will be seriously hampered as a bus stand is always a noisy place.

While talking, many local residents said a few years back the upazila parishad authorities built a public park by occupying around 70 decimals of the river land, opposite to the proposed bus stand.

Before that the upazila authorities occupied a 20-feet portion of the river bank and built a CNG stand about three years ago.

The illegal occupation of river land was stopped for the while after different newspapers published several news in this regard, the alleged.

Several teachers at Government Mahesh Chandra Secondary School, seeking anonymity, said the school authorities have informed the upazila parishad chairman about the demerits of the bus terminal, but he did not pay heed to their words.

One of the guardians, seeking not to be named, said if filling up the riverbank is a part of any development work, local administration should fill up the entire river.

Head of Bangla Department at Rangpur Begum Rokeya University Dr Tuhin Adut, also president of Riverine People of Bangladesh, said though River Unnayan Committee of Bangladesh is trying to free the river land from the illegal occupiers, in some cases government officials are filling up riverbanks in the name of developments.

Sreekol Union Parishad (UP) Chairman Kutubullah Hossain said if the government officials take such initiative no one dares to say anything.

Contacted, Sreepur Upazila Chairman Mahmudul Goni Shahin said decision to construct a bus stand was taken at a upazila monthly meeting as there is no other suitable place.

Sreepur Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Momotaj Mohol said the decision was taken a few months before her joining, but she will look in to the matter.  Magura Deputy Commissioner (DC) Mohammad Abu Naser said filling up the riverbank in order to setup a bus stand is completely unlawful and he should have been informed in this regard earlier.