A brick kiln named FF Bricks has raised the soil like a hill by cutting the embankment and bank of the Kapotaksha River in Paikgachha. Since the soil has been cut deep like a pond on the banks of the Kapotaksha River, the area could be flooded at any time if the river’s tide breaks the embankment. However, the owner of the brick kiln claims that it has cut the soil from his leased land by digging a trench.

Local brick kiln owners have been accused of cutting soil from the char and banks of the Kapotaksha River in Paikgachha before the brick-making season. The dam is under threat due to cutting soil very close to it. Local people complain that the agricultural land in the char area is also disappearing due to cutting soil in this way.

There are two brick kilns near the river bank in Puraikati Beel. Recently, it was seen on the spot that the kiln owners have started cutting soil from the char and river banks to make bricks. Soil is being cut very close to the flood control dam.

Local residents said that every year when the brick-making season begins, the owners of the brick kilns use their workers to remove soil from the river banks and chars. But this year, soil cutting has started before the season begins. This has raised concerns about the flood control embankment being destroyed. Locals fear that if soil cutting from the river banks continues in this way, the embankment will disappear into the river in the next one to two years.

Local resident Md. Shaheen said that their area is prone to erosion. The way the brick kilns are cutting soil from the riverbank will further increase the erosion of the river.

However, Abdus Sattar, manager of FF Bricks on the banks of the river, denied the allegations and said, “The land where the soil is being cut is private property. There is no land on the river here.”

Locals complain that soil is being extracted from the riverbank, but brick kiln owners claim that soil is being extracted from their leased land.

The owner of FF Bricks claims that soil is being dug from his leased land. He claims that there is no river or government land there.

Motaleb Hossain, executive engineer of the Paikgachha office of the Water Development Board (PAUBO), said, “Soil cannot be cut from the banks of the embankment and the river in any way. Cutting soil from the riverbank, putting the embankment at risk, is a punishable offense. If the riverbank is cut and the course of the river changes due to the construction of brick kilns by occupying chars, then legal action will be taken against the owners of these brick kilns.”

If asked about this, he said… “Soil cannot be cut from the banks and banks of rivers. If soil is cut from the embankments and banks of rivers, then legal action will be taken against the owners of these brick kilns.”

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