THE plunder of stones in Sylhet is now replicated at the Rangpani tourist spot in Jaintapur and the River Lobha in Kanaighat, where politically influential quarters are blamed for lifting boulders under the cover of expired auction permits. People allege that large stones are hauled away unhindered while sporadic drives are under way. The allegations come even as a major crackdown continues at Sadapathar in Companiganj where authorities have so far recovered about 4.95 lakh cubic feet of stolen stones since August 14. Multiple raids led to arrests, including leaders and transporters, and the Bureau of Mineral Resources has filed a criminal case against 1,500 unnamed suspects. The adviser on environment to the interim government has visited the area and accused segments of the administration of collusion or silence while acknowledging political pressure to allow extraction. The deputy commissioner and the upazila nirbahi officer have been replaced, power to the crushers was briefly cut and stones seized are returned to the site. Yet, the plunder and stockpiling continue despite court restrictions. Public protests and media scrutiny have so far spurred belated, uneven responses.
The effects are immediate and compounding. Riverbeds are destabilised as boulders and cobbles are stripped, lowering bed levels, accelerating bank erosion and altering flow patterns that sustain fish breeding. At Sadapathar, Jaflong and Rangpani, the loss of stone cover degrades the landscape experience that underpins tourism while dust plumes and crusher noise depress health, crop yields and property values. Night-time trucking tears up roads and increases crash risk. Silt and oil run-off foul canals and floodplains. Because thieves treat resources as free inputs, the state pays twice, first in damage and again in recovery drives, policing and litigation, while lawful suppliers are undercut. Claims of 鈥榓uctioned stock鈥� create a laundering pathway. Papers issued for removing old heaps are used to legitimise fresh lifting, blurring oversight and giving cover to intermediaries. Administrative churn without continuous presence emboldens syndicates. Periodic seizures perform well on camera but rarely disable financing, logistics or political protection. Left unchecked, extraction migrates upstream, fragmenting habitats, reducing dry-season baseflows and raising water treatment costs, too. Most corrosive is the normalisation of impunity when thousands can be named in a single case yet a few financiers are held. Communities learn that court orders and anger can be ignored until the next crisis.
The government should lock in a permanent enforcement presence across quarry belts, disconnect every illegal crusher and return seized stones to their original sites with audited counts. Prosecutions should reach financiers, permit-launderers and officials who looked away, not only labourers. A clear seasonal moratorium, real-time river oversight and transparent auctioning are essential. Anything less will beget impunity and the rivers, tourism economy and local communities will keep paying dearly.
