Monday | 13 January 2025 | Reg No- 06
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Monday | 13 January 2025 | Epaper

School building in Meherpur collapses for low-quality materials

Published : Saturday, 14 January, 2017 at 12:00 AM  Count : 240
MR Alam
MEHERPUR, Jan 13: Centring the collapse of Nobinpur Government Primary School building, two probe bodies were formed and they completed investigation on Wednesday afternoon.
The landing port and third staircase of the newly built school building under Gangni upazila of the district collapsed after ten days of construction.
The probe bodies have collected construction materials from the broken parts of the building. In the primary examination, they opined that the building was constructed with low-quality materials.  Meanwhile, they suspended all works of contractor Khalek-Molak group and stopped payment of bills to the contractor.
According to Gangni Upazila Local Government and Engineering Department (LGED), Tamanna International of Kushtia got the construction works of six government primary schools at a cost of Taka six crore under PEDP-3 project. The works were purchased jointly by District Awami League General Secretary (GS) M A Khalek and BNP leader Monayem Molak. The schools are Karamdi Mathpara Government Primary School, Tentulbaria Government Primary School, Garadob Hotathpara Government Primary School, Garadob Porapara Government Primary School, Hogolbaria Government Primary School and Nobinpur Government Primary School under Gangni upazila.
Locals complained that from the very beginning, the contractor has been using low-quality materials to the buildings. They raised complaints time and again to the authorities,  but the authorities did not pay heed. Rather, political power was used as and when LGED authority created obstacle.
The employees of the department supervising the job kept themselves mum; many employees were voluntarily transferred elsewhere because of pressure from the contractor, according to field sources.
Getting information on collapse, Gangni Upzaila Engineer of LGED Mahbubul Haque went to the spot and informed the matter to the higher authority. Then a probe body was formed which was headed by Superintending Engineer (Design) Ali Noor. Other members included Engineer of PEDP-3 J M Azad, Senior Engineer (QC) Enamul Haque Khan of LGED Head Office, Superintending Engineer of Jessore Circle Shafiul Alam and Executive Engineer Azimuddin Sardar of LGED Meherpur. They visited the spot on Monday afternoon.
The investigation team heard from the local people and collected the evidence from different parts of the building. They examined the cement, rod, sand etc. and passed opinion that the contractor used low-quality materials. Especially, they used cement less in quantity and low-quality sand.
Executive Engineer of LGED Meherpur Azimuddin Sardar said the contractor did not use 2.0 FM sand in the construction work. They mixed less cement.
Meanwhile, the construction works of six schools of the contractors have been suspended and  a letter was issued to the concerned upazila nirbahi officer and upazila engineer to stop payment of all bills of the contractor. Authority also issued showcause notice.
Work purchasing contractor district Awami League GS M A Khalek said the incident took place due to mistake of the workers. His partner contractor Molak opined that it was not a serious matter.
Probe team leader said it has been assumed that the building was constructed with low-quality materials.
Shahin Miah, education officer, Planning and Development, Primary and Mass Education Ministry, also came here for investigation; he heard from the local people. They narrated all the pros and cons of the building construction from the very beginning.   
Shahin Miah told this correspondent  that irregularities have been found in the investigation; the contractor did not involve the managing committee during construction. As they have used low-quality materials in constructing the building, that is why the incident happened; the matter would be taken to the notice of the ministry, he added.  
Zaber Ali, president, governing body of the school, said the contractors used low-quality materials in the construction work from the time of casting the base. The matter was taken to the notice of the contractor (Khalek-Molak) who threatened to use their political power. Since then, nobody did not open mouth.
Headmaster of the school said, the contractor used ravish of brick kilns during the time of base casting.  
Local Freedom Fighter Mujibur Rahman said, the villagers decided not to send their children to the school as the building  is now risky; at any moment, any tragedy like Rana Plaza might happen. The villagers also want reconstruction of the building, he maintained.
It may be mentioned here that the building collapsed due to use of low-quality materials, but the upazila engineer interestingly filed a general diary with Gangni Police Station against the workers: GD No. 294 dated 7 January. When the upazila engineer was asked about the relevancy of the case, he did not reply.





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