OVER Tk 23 crore was spent only last year to excavate a 65-kilometre stretch of rivers and canals in five upazilas of Lalmonirhat. But most of the excavated earth, piled up on its side, has already made it back to the rivers and canals obstructing water flows. Bangladesh Water Development Board’s (BWDB) small river and canal re-excavation project was completed in the district in June last year, but the project has not reached its desired goal.
The rivers and canals constricted by washed down earth piled up on the banks and the beds are silted up again — thanks to unplanned-and-unmanaged dumping of the excavated earth by the BWDB. There is no water flow in the re-excavated rivers and canals in many places. According to the BWDB officials, the government allocated Tk 39 crore for the re-excavation of a 98,100-metre stretch of small rivers and canals in five upazilas. The project expired in June last year.
During the project period about 65-km rivers and canals have been re-excavated which is 66 per cent of the work. Under this project, Sati River, Vateshwari River, Swarnamati River, Hasmara canal and Sutidhar Pankauri canal were re-excavated. Although Sakoya canal was on the list, no work was done on this canal. The excavated earth piled on the bank has already made it back to the rivers and canals obstructing water flows.
The contractor could not work fully due to obstruction by the landowners along the rivers and canals. If the project were completed as per the design, the locals could benefit from these rivers and canals. Contractors have been billed for the amount of work they have done. What is the meaning of wasting money from the national exchequer without fulfilling the project objective. We recommend the ministry to take exemplary punishment against the contractor, auditor, supervisors and thus such wasting of money will be avoided in future.
