Residents of Chapur village in Bajubagha Union  of Bagha Upazila of Rajshahi have been exposed to extreme environmental pollution. About a year ago, in Chandipur village (about 150 yards west of Chandipur Bazar), an organization called ‘Baba O Mayer Doa Basta Bitan’ set up a plastic carat breaking machine.

The loud noise of this machine emits black smoke and creates dust and sand. Most of the time day and night running this machine, people in the area can not sleep properly at night.

Children’s education is disrupted. As this situation has been going on for a long time, the suffering of the locals has reached its climax. Md. Bazlur Rahman and Md. Raushan Alam Babu have lodged written complaints in different departments of the administration on behalf of the locals to get rid of this helpless situation.

They have lodged separate complaints in different departments including Rajshahi Deputy Commissioner, Upazila Nirbahi Officer, Deputy Director of Environment Department, Upazila Chairman, Environmental Lawyers Association.

A separate complaint alleges that earlier last year, an organization called ‘Baba O Mayer Doa Basta Bitan’ set up a plastic carat-breaking machine in Chapur village (about 150 yards west of Chandipur Bazar). The loud noise of this machine emits black smoke and creates dust and sand.

Most of the time day and night running this machine, people in the area can not sleep properly at night. Children’s education is disrupted. Older people are suffering from respiratory problems. The normal environment of the village is being destroyed.

It further said that within 500 meters of the place where the machine has been installed, there is a primary school, a secondary school, union council office, a mosque and a market. Therefore, they have demanded to take legal action against the organization accused of protecting the locals from environmental pollution and to stop the operation of the machine. The owner of the accused company is Moazzem Hossain.

Meanwhile, a plastic carat breaking machine has been set up but no approval has been sought from the appropriate authorities. The complainants said that the machine was being used for a long time without permission.

An attempt was made to contact Moazzem Hossain, the owner of the accused company on his mobile phone to know about this, but he did not receive the call. As a result, it was not possible to know his statement.