AL men filling 53-year-old pond without permission
Sand lifting for the purpose also puts Patuakhali Bridge at risk
Sand extracted from the Laukathi River near the Patuakhali Bridge (inset) being carried through a pipe and dropped into the 53-year-old four-acre pond in the heart of Patuakhali town. A section of ruling Awami League men started the callous act on Wednesday without permission from the authorities concerned.Photo: STAR
Some ruling Awami League (AL) men have started filling up a 53-year-old pond at the heart of the district town without permission from the authorities concerned. To fill up the four-acre pond in the name of setting up a medical college hospital, they are also lifting sand from Patuakhali River, posing risk to a 485.15-metre-long Patuakhali Bridge. During a visit to the area on Wednesday, this correspondent saw sand lifting from Patuakhali River, only 200 yards from the bridge on Patuakhali-Barisal road. Following a proposal for setting up a medical college hospital in the district town, Patuakhali PWD (Public Works Department) suggested taking 14.73 acres of land (including the pond under question) for the purpose. According to the suggestion, this land should be added with 16.5 acres of land belonging to 250-bed Patuakhail General Hospital to set up the medical college. But the Department of Architecture sent a letter to Patuakhali PWD to find another land for the purpose, saying that around 30 acres of land needed for the medical college hospital should be a on the same premises but the proposed land is away from Patuakhail General Hospital. In reply, PWD requested the authorities concerned to send a team to visit the spot for early decision, said AKM Kamruzzaman, executive engineer of PWD. But some AL men on Wednesday started filling up the pond with sand drawn from the Patuakhali River with dredger. The act poses threat to the Patuakhali Bridge that was built in 2005 at a cost of Tk 27.17 crore. Kazi Alamgir, organising secretary of district unit of AL, who is supervising the filling up work, told this correspondent, "We are filling up the pond to set up a medical college here." PWD official Kamruzzaman, on the other hand, said, "I don't know who started filling the pond as there is no final decision yet to set up the proposed medical college hospital on the land." When contacted, Kamolendu Majumder, executive engineer of Roads and Highways Department, said, "We don't know the matter. We will take step if anybody does anything that harms the bridge." Dr Md Shafiqul Islam, mayor of Patuakhali municipality, said, "A section of Awami League men are filling up the pond, ignoring my request not to do it without permission from the municipality authorities. They are forcibly doing it in the name of a medical college hospital. We want establishment of a medical college hospital in the town but due processes should be followed for it." This correspondent failed to communicate with Amitav Sarker, deputy commissioner of Patuakhali, over his cell phone. Shah Alam Sarder, additional deputy commissioner (ADC-Revenue), said, "There is a proposal for setting up a medical college hospital on the land including the pond. I don't know anything more." Mostafizur Rahman, deputy director of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority, said he does not know anything about the matter. Sukumar Biswas, deputy director of the Directorate of Environment in Barisal, said he will go to the spot on Saturday and take legal step if any irregularity is found there. Linkon Bayen, acting divisional officer of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyer's Association (BELA) in Barisal, said filling up any water body is illegal and a punishable offence as per law. Visiting the pond area on Thursday noon, this correspondent saw that the said AL men started cutting trees there as they have allegedly taken a plan to cut down over 100 trees from the north and west sides of the pond without permission from the authorities concerned.
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