Padma Sand Lifting: 9 homes swept away in Faridpur

At least nine houses have been devoured by the Padma river in the Paldangi area of Faridpur Sadar due to river erosion caused by illegal sand lifting.

Locals alleged that an Awami League leader illegally lifted sand, which led to the destruction of their homes.

The incident took place between 2:00am to 6:00am on Friday. The town's protection embankment is also under threat as those houses were adjacent to it.

While visiting the area, this correspondent found that the families were busy moving household goods.

The houses of Afzal Sheikh, Majlu ​​Shikder, Md Hasan Master, Badsha Sheikh, Saheb Sheikh, Delwar Sheikh, Saddam Sheikh, Salam Sheikh, and Jahanara Begum have swept away. Apart from houses, bamboo bushes and several trees also got washed away.

Photo: Star

The victims claimed that dredger machines were being used to extract sand from the river in the Paldadangi area.

Azam Mia, president of Ward 24 of the Faridpur municipality Awami League unit, installed a dredger machine in the Padma to lift sand from an area about three months ago, they added.

At the time, the Water Development Board stopped the initiative after conducting a drive. The WDB also filed a case in this regard.

A victim, Md Hasan, said, "After losing our houses to the Padma river during the flood of 1988, we settled in the government land next to the Faridpur town protection embankment."

"Since then, we have been living here with the permission of the local administration. But Azam is illegally lifting sand by installing a dredger machine here. Due to that, our house has been swept away in the river," he added.

Photo: Star

Another victim, Afzal Sheikh, said, "We lost everything in the blink of an eye."

Mehdi Hasan Fakir, chairman of Decrechar Union Parishad, said if such sand liftin continues, the Faridpur town protection embankment will get damaged.

Partha Pratim Saha, executive engineer of Faridpur Water Development Board, said he visited the site on Friday afternoon. Geo bags would be placed on an urgent basis to prevent breakage, he added.

Quamrul Ahsan Talukder, the deputy commissioner of Faridpur, said a case would be filed against those who lifted the sand from the river and caused this disaster.

Regarding the complaint, Md Azam Mia said he is a sand trader by profession and owns the place, which was eroded.

He said, "Those who used to live in that place came as victims of the river erosion in 1988. I let them stay at my place on humanitarian grounds."