ALLEGATIONS have been made against some dishonest high officials of the Ministry of Shipping and the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) for awarding a Tk 287 crore work among the people of their choice to build demarcation pillars and walkways on the banks of the four rivers around Dhaka. Showing total disregard to official formalities, the allocated money was illegally sanctioned to 14 units of the river beautification mega project.
According to the project profile, the government will construct 40 kilometres of wall and 52 kilometres of walkways on the retrieved banks of four rivers — the Buriganga, the Turag, the Balu and the Shitalakhya — around Dhaka. Besides, there will be three eco-parks, 19 RCC jetties and other infrastructures on the banks of these rivers. The project is likely to be completed by 2022.
Insiders alleged some mismatch and inflated costs are there in the revised development project proposal along with some unnecessary components. BIWTA has also increased the expenditure by bringing in some additional work packages unnecessarily to the project. Since the government wants to save the rivers around Dhaka City and make them attractive for visitors, a revision has been allowed.
A news report published in a national daily on Tuesday said that Project director and member (Finance), chief engineer (civil), caretaker engineer, and executive engineer and deputy project director have reportedly approved the project proposal. Head of committee and chairman of the BIWTA has finalized the entire tender process and sent it to the Ministry of Shipping. It is disquieting that rampant manipulation is taking place in the country.
It is to be noted that a large number of rivers in the country, including the four surrounding capital Dhaka, are in dire straits. Often, grabbers allegedly build mosques near the banks of the rivers only to grab river land and set up other structures, including markets and business establishments. To protect the rivers surrounding Dhaka city, the authorities concerned must step up efforts for the construction of demarcation pillars, walkways and other infrastructures on the banks of the rivers by doing away with manipulations. We hope the project would be completed on schedule in 2022 with a view to making the capital city more attractive.
