Gazni, in the Garo Hills on the border of Jhenaigati upazila in Sherpur, is a place of hills, rivers, streams and forests of sal, teak, gajari and mahua. Samakal reports that this richly wooded area has been ravaged for years by sand and stone extraction and tree felling, and locals say the activity has multiplied over the past two years. In places hillocks are cut for soil, in others deep pits are dug along riverbanks for sand, and hill springs and streams are dug up for stone. Valuable trees such as sal, haritaki, bahera and makra are being felled.
The reporter saw the destruction along about 12 kilometres of the Gazni forest beat, at Gazni, Chhoto Gazni, Bakakura, Gandhigaon, Darbeshtala, Halchati, Matitila, the Bonrani rest house, Mongol falls, the Kalghosha river and several streams. Locals say the stripping of the hills goes back about 25 years, and at least 500 labourers work at the sand and stone extraction.
Neel Madhab Hajong, chairman of the Jhenaigati Upazila Tribal Welfare Association, said the six or seven indigenous communities of the hills never thought of destroying nature, yet the hills are being cut for sand and stone before their eyes. Sujoy Malakar Joy, president of the Sherpur Bird Conservation Society, said that last Friday at Rangtia he saw people carting off sal and other small trees and sand from the streams by van, with stone piled up.
Rabiul Islam Ruman, a young environmental campaigner from Bakakura, says he was attacked for speaking up for the hills and spent three days in jail on a case filed against him. Teacher Rahmat Ali, an organiser of the local group "Hatir Khobor o Sachetonota" (elephant news and awareness), said little effective action is seen from the administration beyond what volunteers do.
Gazni forest beat officer Salehin Newaz said a large ring began extracting sand and stone after the political change of 2024; resisting it risked his life, and he has had only three forest staff to guard 10 to 12 kilometres. On 3 June this year, after four sand-laden vehicles were seized, he and forest guard Ziaul were attacked. The forest department says 22 cases over sand and stone have been filed in the Gazni beat since 2024, two of them criminal cases. Most recently, on 8 November, police arrested six labourers with seven vehicles carrying red sand.
Abdul Karim, until recently Rangtia range officer, said the forest can be saved if the Border Guard Bangladesh, police and upazila administration work together. Jhenaigati's upazila executive officer Md Al Amin said task-force drives are continuing but results would be better if the border guards joined in. Sherpur's newly arrived assistant conservator of forests and the Rangtia range officer declined to comment. The report is Samakal's.
Photo: Ayman Nakib Badhan / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: Samakal
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