Monday | 7 October 2024 | Reg No- 06
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Monday | 7 October 2024 | Epaper

88 culverts in S’ganj have little use for unplanned construction

Published : Saturday, 7 October, 2017 at 12:00 AM  Count : 333
Ashok Benarjee
SIRAJGANJ, Oct 6: At least 88 big and small culverts which were made by Disaster Management and Relief Ministry at different places across the district are not providing proper utility for their unplanned construction.
A 30-foot culvert has been made on a 60-foot wide canal near Fulkocha Kunta Mandir under Bagbati union in Sadar upazila at Tk 22.68 lakh, but there is no approach road on the eastern side of the culvert, and there are arable lands on the western side.
Similarly, a 25-foot culvert has been made on a 200-foot wide canal at Paikpara under Kalia Haripur union in Sadar upazila at about Tk 20 lakh but no approach road has been made at the culvert.
As a result, the culverts which were constructed considering the convenience of the rural people's communication, are coming of no use for unplanned construction.
Besides, question has arisen about the culverts' durability. The reason is that the culverts in rural areas are generally constructed by Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) by using their practical experience and employing their scheduled engineers.
But, in the case of culvert construction in Sirajganj, the rule was not followed. The responsibility of the culverts' construction was given to respective upazila project implementation officer (UPIO) and upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) bypassing the LGED. But, the UPIO and the UNO do not have technical experience in this connection. So, the aim of constructing the culverts has faced setback.
Concerned sources said, at least 88 culverts have been built in the district under the Disaster Management and Relief Ministry in 2015-16 and 2016-17 fiscal years at a cost of Tk 36,48,15,000. Besides 14 culverts in Sadar upazila, the highest 20 culverts have been constructed in Ullahpara upazila and 17 in Kazipur upazila.
In this connection, District Relief and Rehabilitation Officer Md Abdur Rahim said, "As far as I know, the culverts were built with the recommendation of local lawmakers and union parishad (UP) chairmen. It was decided that after the culverts are completed, the respective local UP chairmen would build the approach roads. I will investigate whether the approach roads have been built or not. The construction and maintenance of the culverts is the jurisdiction of respective UPIO and UNO. I have nothing more to do in this connection."
Deputy Assistant Engineer of LGED Md Moshiur Rahman said, "Our department is in no way involved with the culvert's construction. Our advice has not been taken prior to the construction of the culverts. If we decide to build any culvert, we send its design to the concerned department, and after getting approval, we start its construction. We also monitor the total construction process but I do not know whether such process has been followed in this case."
Sadar UPIO Md Saidul Haque said, "The tenders of the culverts' construction have been performed in Dhaka. The experienced contractors have performed the work and we only monitored the activities. The approach roads will be built under Kajer Binimoye Khadya (Kabikha) project."
He, however, denied any irregularities in the culvert construction.





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