Massive erosion has already affected the dyke at several points in Golapganj and at Kanaighat upazilas, putting the areas at risk of devastating flood, locals said. Some organised groups are engaged in it as selling sand and soil for earth-filling is now a profitable business.

Villagers in Zakiganj, Kanaighat, Sylhet Sadar and Golapganj lodged several complaints to the administration demanding immediate stoppage of sand lifting. Villagers said whenever they protest, the illegal dredging is stopped for a few days, only to resume at another point nearby.

This correspondent during a visit to erosion-hit Shingpur village in Golapganj upazila on Friday saw concrete blocks dumped by Water Development Board (WDB) for protection of the Surma dyke damaged at several places.

"We pass days amid great worries because erosion may devour our ancestral houses", said elderly Shamsuddin at Shingpur village.

"There is none to stop dredging which is causing disaster. Whenever we protest, they leave the area, but come back again at night or after days", he said.

Nurul Hque of the same area said, "We had filed complaints to the authorities, but there is no action. We are bracing for a serious flood like 2004 due to river dredging".

The WDB spent Tk 1.32 crore last year for protection of the Surma dyke. But the dyke has become vulnerable again due to sand lifting, WDB sources said.

Some organised gangs are engaged in the work without any permission from the administration or WDB, they said.

Local Union Parishad member Ansar Uddin said RCC blocks have disappeared into the river at many points.

"As we protested to save our lands, the gangs implicated me and some others in a false extortion case", he told this correspondent. Seeking anonymity, an official of Golapganj upazila administration said only intervention by joint forces can stop the illegal dredging.

When contacted, WDB Superintending Engineer GM Shamsur Rahman said WDB did not give permission to anybody to lift sand from Surma in Shingpur or any other point by using dredgers.

Erosion in those areas accentuated only due to indiscriminate extraction of sand from the riverbed, he said.Some people in Zakiganj and Kanaighat filed a complaint with the Deputy Commissioner on June 24 demanding immediate stoppage of sand lifting from Surma riverbed. Several villages including Karaballa, Karaballa Nij, Karaballa Pashchim, Charigram, Moricha, Baroband, Akashmollika and Atgram Bazar may be devoured by the river as both its banks have been badly affected by erosion, the locals told this correspondent.

People in Kandigaon union in Sadar upazila said, Jangail, Herakhola, Jugirgaon, Dhanpur, Govindapur, Hausha, Chandpur and Pashchim Ghopal villages face erosion due to random extraction of sand from riverbed.

They said they will launch a fresh agitation if the illegal dredging is not stopped immediately.

Asabuddin of Jangail village said they submitted a memorandum to Sylhet Deputy Commissioner earlier to stop illegal dredging, but to no effect.

Some local elite in Shingpur and Mollagaon villages said WDB spends huge amounts of money almost every year to protect the Surma dyke, but all go down the drain due to the illegal sand lifting.