Bholaganj
Hillocks will be gobbled up also after stones thru all-party unity
With the fall of the Awami League government on 5 August last year, the looting of stones began and continued relentlessly in mass scale over the past year. Although stories of this looting spread on social and other media, the government and local administration remained in a deep slumber like Kumbhakarna. They only woke up after the looting was over. On 13 August, the joint forces launched an operation to recover the looted white stones and seized 130 stone-laden trucks. According to the Sylhet district commissioner, the confiscated stones will be returned to the areas from where they were looted, and there is also a court order regarding this. Stone is a mineral resource, and therefore its authority lies with the Ministry of Mineral Resources. The power to permit or stop extraction lies with that ministry. However, if stone extraction causes environmental damage, the Ministry of Environment can raise objections.
Stones recovered, but why looting couldn’t be prevented
After the white stones of Bholaganj in Sylhet were looted, there was an uproar across the country. Strong criticism began on social media. Surely, this is not only because the state’s property was looted, but also because the country’s beauty was stolen. Countless tourists have visited Bholaganj to see the white stones. Anyone who goes sightseeing in Sylhet almost certainly visits a couple of places, and the white stones are one of them. Those who have previously visited Bholaganj took photos, uploaded them to social media, and wrote about them—now all of that is just a memory! Perhaps people would not be as hurt if their possessions were looted, but memories stolen cause deeper pain. In today’s Bangladesh, everything is being looted—assets, beauty, and memories!
Lament of white stone and an epic plunder
Bangladesh is a country where history, politics, and theft seem to have walked hand in hand since birth. Here, the flow of honesty, like that of a river, sometimes runs dry. Just as nature gradually loses its beauty, honest people too are on the path to extinction.
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Stop stone extraction frenzy in Sylhet
The Sada Pathor (White Stone) Tourist Center near the zero line of the Bholaganj border in Companiganj upazila of Sylhet is one of the most attractive places for domestic and foreign tourists. This is the must visit spot in the area. This tourist center is spread over an area of about 15 acres near the Bangladesh-India border. The main attraction of this tourist center is the stream of water flowing over numerous small and large stones. Thousands of tourists from home and abroad flock there every day to see this beauty; but the area has recently started to become empty of stones due to the stone extraction. Today (May 3) media reports say that the gang has started looting stones in the white stone area since April 23.