Staff Reporter :
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Monday formed a three-member committee to investigate into the allegations of corruption at Barapukuria coalmine in Dinajpur that led to a crisis of coal at the Barapukuria Power Plant, prompting it to shut down indefinitely.
The committee led by ACC Deputy Director Shamsul Alam has been asked to complete the enquiry into the matter within 15 working days. The two other members are ACC’s Assistant Director ASM Sajjad Hossain and Deputy Assistant Director ASM Tajul Islam, official sources said.
Earlier, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has ordered a full investigation into the disappearance of 1.42 lakh tonnes of coal from the Barapukuria coalmine in Dinajpur.
The Prime Minister held a meeting at the Secretariat on Monday with State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid Bipu, secretaries to related departments, Petrobangla Chairman Abul Mansur Md Faizullah and other relevant officials and discussed over the issue with them.
After the meeting Nasrul Hamid told the media, “The Prime Minister has ordered a complete investigation into the incident.”
The state minister also said Petrobangla has already been ordered to start a case over the disappearance of the coal.
Meanwhile, the Barapukuria Coal fired Power Plant was shut down last night for an indefinite period for lack of fuel supply, a direct fallout of some 1.42 lakh tonnes of coal disappearing from the yard of Barapukuria coalmine.
Nasrul Hamid said steps have been taken to bring northern region, especially Rangpur, under smooth power supply within one month.
“We have enough electricity. Power is being supplied from Sirajganj to Rangpur. Due to the unexpected incident, the northern region of Bangladesh may experience low voltage problems,” he said.
“We request our consumers to keep patience for a month as necessary steps have been taken. We are sorry. People of northern area, particularly Rangpur, would face temporary crisis of power,” he said.
Replying to a query, Nasrul said the Prime Minister has already directed the authorities concerned to probe into the entire incident.
Barapukuria Coal Mining Company Managing Director Habib Uddin Ahmed and others have been accused of selling 1.42 lakh tonnes of coal and misappropriating around Tk 227 crore through fraud, abusing their power.
Barapukuria Power Plant had a capacity to generate 525 megawatt of power, but its recent highest production hovered around 380MW, according to Mahbubur Rahman, superintendent of the power plant at Parbatipur in Dinajpur.
The plant had three units, all of which got their fuel from the Barapukuria coalmine. One of them was taken offline early this month and another on Wednesday due to coal crisis.
The last unit, which added 250MW of power to the national grid yesterday, was turned off last night.
The development has caused quite a stir within the Barapukuria coalmine, the Power Development Board (PDB) and the coalmine’s parent company Petrobangla.
On Thursday, four top officials of the mine — its managing director, two general managers and a deputy general manager — were removed from their posts after the PDB and the Petrobangla found that around 1.42 lakh tonnes of coal, worth over Tk 227 crore, went missing from the mine yard.
However, coalmine officials yesterday downplayed the discovery, saying the shortage was a result of a system loss over the years, which was never adjusted.
Since production started at the mine in 2005, some coal might have been lost due to system loss such as washout in rainwater, dust, moisture, and spontaneous combustion, said an official seeking anonymity.
Meanwhile, Deputy Director Benjir Ahmed of ACC, Dinajpur on Mondayb said, in the preliminary investigation they have found irregularities at the Barapukuria coalmine.
There were supposed to be reserved of 1.46 lakh tonnes of coal at the coalmine. But they have got only 2,000 tonnes. After full investigation, a case will be lodged in this regard, Benjir told reporters after the inspection.
