Khorshed Alam, Sherpur

Sand traders in Sherpur have been accused of selling sand at excessive prices by forming a syndicate and increasing the price.

As a result, development activities in the country are expected to be disrupted. Nirvana said that due to the increase in the price of sand, many works have been stopped in the various development activities of the contractors.

They demanded to bring the price of sand under control with the intervention of the administration on an urgent basis.

It is learnt that like every year, Bhogai of Nalitabari upazila bordering the district, Maharshi of Chellakhali Jhenaigati upazila and Balu Mahals of Someswari river are officially leased.

It is learnt that the rental price of the sand palaces has not been increased by the government. However, the lessees of Balu Mahal and dredger machine owners have formed a syndicate and have been selling sand at an additional price.

Talking to the people of the contractor company, it is known that in 2023 Balu was sold for 12 thousand taka per truck. The lessee collected a revenue of Rs. 2500 per truckload of sand.

There is a complaint that this year, the lessees of Balu Mahal and dredger machine owners have formed a syndicate and are selling sand for 35/40 thousand per truck by increasing the price.

The lessee of Balu Mahal has been collecting revenue from each truck at 10,000 taka.

The investigation revealed that the sand of Someswari river in Durgapur of Netrakona was used to meet the needs of the development activities of the whole country. But sand mining has been stopped due to complications related to court cases between the lessees. Therefore, the demand for sand to keep the development activities going.

In this context, the sand traders of the border of Sherpur have formed a syndicate and are selling sand worth 12 thousand taka for 40 thousand taka.

It is reported that the price of sand has increased at an alarming rate and various developmental activities in the district have been stopped. It can be said that there is no monitoring and control from the administration in this regard. This is the complaint of various contractors.

It is alleged that the sand traders have formed a syndicate to raise the price of sand with the intention of discrediting the current interim government. The construction and contractor companies sought the intervention of the administration to break the syndicate on an urgent basis and bring the sand market under control.

Samim Ahmed, the lessee of Balu Mahal of Someswari river, said that we did not do any syndicate. Sand extraction is less than the demand. Sand has to be sold at an additional price due to the cost of extraction.

Other sand traders also said the same thing. Deputy Commissioner of Sherpur Tarafdar Mahbubur Rahman said that the matter will be investigated and action will be taken.