Illegal sand lifting from both sides leaving the bridges at risk for future

Special Correspondent:

Though, the viral photos of cracks on some pillars of the Jamuna Railway Bridge have been termed by the bridge authorities as rumor and not harmful, experts seem there is no room for complacency, if do not be careful right now.

Those concerned say that, the way sand is being extracted from the upstream and downstream of the both bridges in the dark of night, the soil can move away from the bottom of the bridge and cause cracks or collapses in the pillars at any time. Therefore, river experts believe that such risks may arise in the future, if illegal sand extraction is not stopped now.

Earlier in 2008, cracks were developed on the Jamuna Multipurpose Bridge creating panic among the people. But the then government denied the matter. Later, the government brought the train movements under limitation reducing speeds compared to the previous trend. That led to longer train times and schedule disruptions. To resolve the problem, the government took the initiative to build a separate railway bridge over the Jamuna River near the previous bridge.

Dr. Hadiuzzaman, a communication infrastructure expert and professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) said, “Unplanned and haphazard extraction of sand from the riverbed by dredgers can cause extensive damage not only to bridges but also to any type of infrastructure. For this reason, it is necessary to stop unplanned sand lifting and monitor the course of the river through regular bathymetric surveys on the riverbed.”

There is allegation that, a section of sand bandits led by sand mafia Haji Abdus Sattar alias Balu Sattar are involved with sand extraction through dredgers from more than 42 points located on the both sides of the two Jamuna bridges putting the embankments, town protection hard point and the bridges at risk.

Though, the local district administration leased out four points of the river declaring as Balu Mohal, Satttar and his men are engaged in extracting sands from almost all places in the Jamuna river under the district’s jurisdiction after managing some concerned officials. Sattar’s men lift the sands with dredgers and supply it through hundreds of bulkheads to different destinations. Unfortunately, they carry out the sand extraction festival at the dark of everyday night to evade the public eyes. Thus, Sattar has been controlling the sand empire for over the one and a half decades, sources said.

The file photo shows that sand mafia Abdus Sattar providing flower bouquet to former Awami League (AL) leader and Sirajganj Zilla Parishad Chairman Shamim Talukder Labu, also husband of former AL MP Jannat Ara Talukder Henry.

Vast portions of the Jamuna river in the Kazipur, Sirajganj Sadar, Chowhali, Belkuchi and Shahzadpur upazila are now under control of sand mafia Abdus Sattar. Billions of tons of sand is being extracted from the both sides of the two bridges in the Jamuna river regularly putting the two bridges and others installations at risk. But the authorities concerned including law enforcers are playing mysterious roles even after knowing everything, locals said.

Moklesur Rahman, Executive Engineer of WDB in Sirajganj said, “I have heard about the sand lifting, but I have nothing to do as District Administration is responsible to monitor the sand lifting issue. Deputy Commissioner (DC) is head of the Sand and soil management Committee and the committee takes decision what the place will be declared as Balu Mohal. This is why, I just can request them to stop sand lifting, if any installation is visibly damaged. However, I have no power to stop them. But, no major damage has yet been found.”

Seeking anonymity, local residents said, “If you come to the riverbank at night or early morning, you will see hundreds of bulkheads loading with sands running speedily for different destinations. After fulfilling the local demand, huge quantity of this sand is supplied to Dhaka and Chattogram regions through trucks for various types of construction works.”

“To continue the sand lifting works from the outside of scheduled Balu Mohal areas, Sattar gang pay money with envelops regular basis to some unscrupulous officials of the relevant departments. Consequently, no general public dares to open mouth against the offenders in fear of attack and harassment, as there is a precedent of killing to workers’ leader Nasir Uddin by Balu Sattar,” they opined.

Despite several attempts, it was not possible to take comment of Sattar as his known cell number was found off.

But, no one of the district administration has agreed to make comment in this regard.

On the other hand, many people make various comments alleging defects, irregularities and corruption in the construction work of the bridge, as the pictures of ‘cracks’ appearing under some pillars on the western end of the Jamuna Railway Bridge went viral on Facebook Thursday last.

WHAT ABOUT THE PILLARS’ CRACKS:

Terming it as a rumor, the railway bridge authorities said, it is not a crack; rather, it is a ‘hair crack’ or ‘hair-like’ crack caused by extreme heat. This is not a construction defect. It is not harmful to the concrete structure or installation of the bridge. This is a deliberate attempt by someone to spread panic by using AI technology to turn small cracks into large cracks. However, there is nothing wrong with this. Repair work has already started by coating the visible gaps with resin or glue.

Assistant Chief Engineer of the Jamuna Railway Bridge Project Naimul Haque said that, “Cracks like hair have been visible in some places at the bottom of eight to 10 pillars on the western end of the bridge. This is not a construction defect. It will not harm the concrete infrastructure or installation of the bridge. As a result, there will be no impact on train movement. A group has spread panic by posting pictures on Facebook showing the hair cracks even bigger with malicious intent. The process of repairing the gaps is already underway.”

Jamuna Rail Bridge Authority Project Manager Engineer Mark Haby said, “This is not a defect in their work. It is not even due to construction defects. Due to extreme heat or adverse weather, small gaps ranging from zero to three millimeters have formed under the bridge. These are not harmful to the concrete structure or installation of the bridge. These will be repaired one by one with a mixture of resin or glue. This will not affect the bridge structure or train movement.”

This 4.8-kilometer-long railway bridge, the country’s largest, has been built on 50 pillars and 49 spans in the Sirajganj and Tangail sections, 300 meters upstream of the Jamuna Bridge. The bridge was inaugurated on March 18 last year. The construction cost of the bridge was Tk 16,780.96 crore, of which, 72.4 percent was provided as a loan by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The rest of the money was provided by the government. Japan’s OTG and IHI jointly constructed the bridge.