Advisers Announce Shutdown of Sylhet’s Stone Quarries
- Update Time : 09:19:36 am, Saturday, 14 June 2025
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To promote a tourist-friendly environment, no more stone quarries in Sylhet will be leased out, announced Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Adviser on Forest, Environment, and Climate Change, and Professor Md. Faizul Kabir Khan, Adviser on Power, Energy, Mineral Resources, and Road-Rail Communication. They made the declaration on Saturday (June 14) after visiting the Jaflong area of Sylhet. Senior officials, including the Divisional Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner of Sylhet, were present during the visit.
Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan stated that Jaflong is an Environmentally Critical Area (ECA) and the existing stone quarries are causing serious environmental damage. She emphasized that the area will be developed to suit tourists, and alternative employment opportunities will be arranged for the workers. A comprehensive master plan will also be adopted for the region.
Adviser Professor Md. Faizul Kabir Khan highlighted that illegally extracted stones are being processed using unauthorized crusher machines, posing severe risks to the environment. He ordered the immediate disconnection of electricity supply to such machines. He also pledged to improve the tourism infrastructure in Jaflong.
However, during the advisers’ visit, a group of people staged protests and blockades in the Ballaghat area of Jaflong, demanding the continuation of quarry leases.
