Bangladesh Research
Background
Sand and gravel are two extremely sought-after raw materials in the global market. Course sand dredged from rivers is used in
semi-conductor and glass manufacturing. Smoother sand has high demand in wetland reclamation, important for expand infrastracuture
in areas affected by climate change. Gravel is a crucial material for both concerete and aslphalt production. Flowing from the
himalayans down in to the Gangetic plain, the Bhramaputra deposists course stilt and gravel right into the Bengal Basin.
A bustling sand and gravel industry has sprung up all across the Bangladesh-India border, primarily concentrated in the province of Sylhet. I joined Professor James Best and PhD. Student Sadiul Chyon in 2022 to investigating the matter. Preliminary work was consolidating established literature on the topic and examining Planet Scope Imagery to identify the key sites. Major extraction happened key sites such as Shada Pathor, Bisnakandi, Jaflong, and Lovachara. After extraction these would be transported by boat to the Surma River and then transported to Sand Markets in Dhaka.
Professor James Best and PhD. student Saduil Chyon were to travel to Bangladesh to continue their investigation. I recieved the Roepke Scholarship to accompany them.
Detour
Now to get to Bangladesh you have to take layover in the middle east on the way over.
The most popular destinations are Doha or Dubai. However, the cheapest ticket I found was through Istanbul, trouble was it had
a 12+ hour layover overnight. So of course I took this opportunity to explore the city.
Sylhet & Dhaka
Video of sand/gravel extraction across various sites in Bangladesh
We traveled the border regions of Sylhet conducting interviews and human GIS research, gathering detailed data on prices, work conditions, and transport logistics. From there, we followed the movement of these materials to the eastern districts of Dhaka: Purbachal and Bashundhara. In these areas, sand was being dumped on rural farmland to force farmers out and make way for new development. I piloted Saadi’s drone and edited the footage that captures the full journey from extraction to dumping.
Using the information gathered, I was able to estimate the total volume of sand and gravel extracted. This became the basis for my senior thesis for which I received the James D. Fellmann award.