FWP rice allocated to fill up a pond
Only a part of this large pond in Dimla upazila town in Nilphamari district now contains water as the authorities have taken initiative to fill it up, without approval from the department of environment, to make a market there.Photo: STAR
A committee led by Dimla sadar Union Parishad (UP) Chairman has allegedly misused 'food for work' resources to fill up a local pond without environment department's approval. Although there is no government provision for filling up ponds under the food for work programme (FWP), 23.564 metric tonnes of rice was realised for this project, showed Project Implementation Office records. A few months ago, the UP Chairman Motiar Rahman and some officials marked a local pond under their authority as a ditch, and proposed its filling to construct a market on that place, said Mojibar Rahman, the project implementation officer (PIO). However, an investigation at Dimla land office on August 26 found that the alleged ditch was clearly classified in the land documents as a pond. When questioned, the chairman said, since the government has restricted filling of water bodies like ponds, he marked the pond as a ditch to approve the project and gain funds for the welfare of his area and people. The UP chairman also said the decision to construct the market there was aimed at creating income source for the parishad's welfare activities. He however admitted that he did not take permission from the environment directorate in Rangpur in this regard. Aminuzzaman Gazi, the upazila unit vice president of BNP, said the UP chairman's proposed market project is nothing but a means to earn handsome money as donation or bribe from traders intending to take shops there. The PIO, when questioned on the matter, said he showed the concerned proposal to the upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) before approval, and since the UNO did not put any objection, he (PIO) approved it. The PIO, however, could not answer as to why he did not visit the spot before giving the approval. Mizanur Rahman, the UNO, said he put the counter signature for the project's approval as he was misguided about the pond being a ditch. He also pointed out that filling a pond requires environment department's approval, which is absent in this case. "The UP chairman has already withdrawn the total amount of allocated rice in two instalments. The project chairman has not submitted the master roll yet. So I have directed him to deposit Tk 1.73 lakh back to the government funds,” the UNO said. Visiting the pond area on August 26, this correspondent found that almost three fourths of the filling work was already complete. Locals said the pond, located beside Dimla Sadar UP office, is a source for fish cultivation and serves as a water reservoir for the area. Officials of a local NGO body Campaign for Assistance, Mobility and Promotion (CAMP) said 'food for work' programme was initiated to provide work and food to rural poor people in the lean period. However, for this project, diesel-run tractors were being used to carry the earth for filling the pond without engaging the poor people to do it manually, they said.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments