Habiganj DC now okays temporary blocking of Khwai river

The Khwai river will temporarily be blocked off and a road constructed over it in Habiganj district's Sayestaganj to transport equipment for a power station, decided Deputy Commissioner (DC) Md Joynal Abedia at a meeting yesterday.

The DC had called the meeting at his office premises, bringing in representatives of Local Government Rural Development (LGRD), Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB), Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (Bela), Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (Bapa) and Guangdong Power Engineering Corporation (GPEC).

GPEC in China started building the road on May 8 without waiting for BWDB clearance, said a BWDB official.

It cited that it was not possible to transport over a nearby bridge eight pieces of heavy equipment, including a generator weighing 400 metric tonnes, for a 330-megawatt power station it is constructing for BPDB in Shajibazar, the official added.

A BPDB official requesting anonymity contradicted, saying on being unloaded at the Mongla port, the equipment could be transported along the Meghna and then the Kushiara rivers through Bhairab.

The DC had stopped the construction on May 28 following numerous media reports but it continued nonetheless from the next day.

Yesterday Bela Sylhet Division Coordinator Shah Shaheda Akhter offered an alternative route, citing possible adverse effects of the violation of environmental laws including flooding upstream and deprivation of communities downstream, apart from the damage to aquatic life and environment.  

LGRD, Habiganj Deputy Director Dilip Kumar Bonik is convening two committees formed at the meeting to monitor the construction.

He told The Daily Star that the equipment convoy would pass once late this month after which the road would be removed. It will be constructed again in September for another convoy to pass in October and then dismantled, he added.