Shahabuddin Shuvo

Sylhet once meant heaven on earth — a land blessed with emerald hills, rolling stones from the mountains, and crystal-clear streams weaving through its valleys. The border region was once a masterpiece of natural beauty. Today, that paradise exists only in memory. Before our eyes, nature is being torn apart while the state and its administration stand by as silent spectators.

There was a time when people collected stones floating down the river on barqi boats, following the rhythm of nature. That was harmony. Then came the machines — and with them began the brutal assault on nature. Excavators dig into the hills, and stone-crushing machines blast through the riverbeds. Workers die in landslides, river courses change, and tourists sink into deadly quicksand. Does no one see this carnage?

But what has happened since August 2024 is beyond belief. Amid political unrest, Sylhet’s quarries turned into open fields of plunder. In just one year, the volume of stone extraction has multiplied several times over — never before had nature been looted so brazenly. The hills are being carved apart, rivers gashed open, and people are left stunned, frightened, and furious.

Everyone knows who benefits — businessmen and local political syndicates. But the most shameful truth is that every layer of administration is somehow complicit. When those tasked with enforcing the law take shelter under the wings of these syndicates, who will protect nature? Court rulings, environmental protests, investigative reports — none seem to matter anymore. Occasionally, the administration conducts flashy operations, seizes some stones, and theatrically dumps them back into the river — as if to stage a drama for public consumption.

But does dumping broken stones into the river restore nature? On the contrary, it blocks the natural flow and triggers new erosion. Yet the administration keeps up this strange display — an exercise in evasion, not restoration. No one knows whether experts were consulted, or if they were, how their recommendations were implemented. So, one must ask — is this even a scientifically guided process?

If we’re honest, we must admit this: the state itself bears responsibility for this plunder. Such devastation could never happen without the complicity of state machinery. The powerful play with raw money while ordinary people pay the price — through floods, erosion, deaths, and the loss of livelihoods.

The Bholaganj quarry in Companiganj once stood as a living symbol of Sylhet’s natural beauty — white stones, transparent water, and green hills combining to form a breathtaking landscape. Now that beauty stands on the brink of annihilation. Illegal extraction, stone theft, and the dumping of crushed stones have together murdered nature a second time.

The white stones of Bholaganj or those lining the Jaflong riverbanks took thousands of years to form through natural processes. Illegal extraction and displacement have destroyed this delicate balance. Now, with broken stones being dumped back into the river under the pretense of restoration, the landscape is turning into a lifeless imitation of itself.

According to environmental experts, riverbeds contain layers of stones — large and small — that naturally regulate the flow and protect the banks. Dumping crushed stones disrupts these layers, altering currents and increasing the risk of erosion and landslides. Those gaps between stones were once microhabitats — home to moss, snails, small fish, even worms — forming the foundation of local biodiversity. Now, with the stones destroyed or displaced, this fragile ecosystem is collapsing.

Experts have warned: Returning stones is not the same as returning nature. Once the microscopic balance of an ecosystem is lost, it can take decades to recover. The dumped stones are blocking river flow, causing sediment buildup and reducing depth. This disrupts fish breeding grounds and threatens aquatic life. The number of local fish species has already dropped sharply.

At the Sada Pathor site, tourists now walk over jagged, broken rocks — a dangerous terrain that has already caused numerous accidents. As bdnews24.com reported, one tourist from Dhaka said, “We used to come here to see beauty; now we only see destruction.” Local photographer Anwar Hossain Sumon added, “These stones must be removed soon, or accidents will continue.” Boatmen, horse riders, and small traders have seen their income plummet. Boatman Jashim Mia lamented, “I used to make five trips a day; now even three trips don’t earn what one trip once did.”

Sylhet’s Deputy Commissioner, Md. Sarwar Alam, has said, “We plan to manually remove the broken stones. Environmental restoration plans are already underway.” The government has also announced a long-term master plan for six key tourist sites — Jaflong, Sada Pathor, Bisnakandi, Utmachhara, and others — prioritizing sustainable tourism and environmental protection. But the real question remains: how practical, and how scientific, are these plans? Can nature truly be restored by dumping debris into its veins?

Taking advantage of the political turmoil of August 2024, Sylhet’s quarries witnessed an unprecedented orgy of stone looting — often before the very eyes of the administration, sometimes even with their support. Those who were meant to enforce the law became the protectors of plunderers. Court rulings, environmental protests, and media reports all drowned in administrative apathy. What we see now is a theater of denial — operations, seizures, and the hollow act of dumping stones back into rivers. Does that bring restoration? Or is it simply a deception to avoid accountability?

Nature always takes revenge — history has proven it time and again. The destruction of Sylhet’s hills and rivers could one day push the entire country toward ecological disaster.

It is time to act decisively:

• Ban all forms of machine-driven stone extraction immediately.

• Bring to justice the businessmen, politicians, and officials complicit in this plunder.

• Create alternative livelihoods and make local communities partners in conservation.

The looting of Bholaganj’s stones was the first act of violence against nature; dumping those broken stones back is the second. Nature is not a backdrop—it is a living system. Protecting its balance is a shared responsibility—of the state, the people, the environmentalists, and the travelers. If we fail to act now, we will be the ones building nature’s coffin with our own hands.

[Shahabuddin Shuvo is the Editor-in-Chief of Sylhetpedia and has long been engaged in citizen journalism.]