Govt to declare Sadapathar, six other quarries ECAs
Environmentalists welcome move but sceptical about implementation
The government is set to declare Sadapathar, Shah Arefin Tila, Ratanpur, Utmachhara, Lobhachhara, Sripur and Lalakhal in the Sylhet district ecologically critical areas.
While known for scenic landscapes and rich natural resources, these areas became major hubs of stone and 'Sylhet sand' quarries and were subjected to aggressive exploitation of the mineral resources.
Abul Kalam Azad, Sylhet divisional director of the Department of Environment, told New Age on Friday that a consultancy firm had been assigned to prepare a technical report assessing natural resources and determining the probable coverage of the ECAs.
'Once the report is available, the department will move to declare the ECAs for conservation,' he said.
Green campaigners welcomed the move but expressed concern over weak enforcement in previously declared ECAs in Sylhet.
Dhoritri Rokhhay Amra central committee member Abdul Karim Kim, also the member secretary of the green organisation's Sylhet district unit, said that although 500 metres along both banks of the Jaflong-Dawki River were declared an ECA, illegal stone and sand extraction continued.
'Environmentalists will appreciate the declaration of the new areas as ECAs, which should have been done much earlier. But the status must not remain only on paper,' he said.
He added that declaring Shah Arefin Tila now as an ECA would hardly restore its biodiversity as the scenic hillock had already been largely destroyed by stone extraction.
Under the Environment Conservation Act 1995, the Department of Environment is empowered to declare ECAs and restrict activities such as habitat destruction, alteration of soil and water characteristics, establishment of polluting industries, waste discharge into water bodies and extraction of stones and other minerals in such areas.
In 2015, the department declared a 500-metre areas along both banks of the Jaflong-Dawki River, including rivers descending from the Khasi hills, as an ECA.
Currently, the country has 13 ECAs.
Sadapathar at Bholaganj, a popular tourist destination, drew national attention past year over reports of aggressive stone extraction and the looting of stone.
The government in February 2020 ordered a halt to stone and sand extraction from several quarries, including Sadapathar, but illegal activities reportedly continued under the patronage of some local Awami League leaders.
After the fall of the Awami League regime on August 5, 2024, in the wake of a mass uprising, control of the quarries reportedly shifted to leaders of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and their allies, leading to open extraction, according to media reports.
On August 24, 2025, the High Court issued a rule asking why failure to stop destructive stone extraction at Jaflong, Shah Arefin Tila, Bholaganj, Utmachhara, Sripur, Bichhnakandi and Lobhachhara should not be declared illegal and why these areas should not be declared ECAs.
Earlier, in 2014, the High Court, acting on a writ petition filed by the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association, banned mechanical extraction of stones in Sylhet quarries.
Despite the restriction, stone traders repeatedly demanded reopening the quarries, citing the livelihoods of dependent workers and business interests as reasons.
During the first session of the 13th Jatiya Sangsad, the Khelafat Majlis lawmaker for Sylhet-5 constituency, Mohammed Abul Hasan, inquired the environment, forest and climate change minister, Abdul Awal Mintoo, about any plan to allow extraction of stones from the quarries in Sylhet and use them for the country's infrastructural development.
Abul Hasan said that due to lack of domestic stone supply, dependence on India was increasing and workers in the sector were losing jobs.
In response, Abdul Awal Mintoo said that there was no scope at present for resuming stone extraction for national development.
'As the environment and ecosystems of these quarry areas are under threat, initiatives are under way to declare several sites in Sylhet as ECAs,' he said.
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