DoE fines LGED engineer over pond filling
The Department of Environment (DoE) on Wednesday fined the executive engineer of Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), Sunamganj Tk 2 lakh over filling a government pond in the upazila headquarters of Derai of Sunamganj.
The pond over 20 decimals of land belongs to the upazila land office and was being filled for the construction of a bridge over the Kalni river under an LGED project.
Mohammad Munir Chowdhury, director (enforcement) of the DoE head office in Dhaka, has summoned the Executive Engineer Iqbal Ahmed to his office and rebuked him for violating environment regulations and government's policy for preserving ponds.
The executive engineer sought apology and gave a written statement assuring the DoE of restoring the pond to its previous state by November 7.
Ranjan Roy, convener of Derai upazila unit of Awami Jubo League, the contractor, was filling the pond without any approval.
He said almost of half of the pond would have to be filled for the sake of the bridge. The earth filling work remains suspended now for eid, he added.
Ranjan Roy also said he did not know about any decision to stop filling of the pond.
The upazila land office sources said a letter was sent to the land ministry weeks ago seeking approval for filling the pond for construction of the bridge, but no approval had come as yet.
Contacted, Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md Shamsul Haque told The Daily Star yesterday evening, "I am on leave, and I know nothing about the matter."
LGED Executive Engineer Iqbal Ahmed could not be contacted as his cell phone was switched off.
Abdul Bari, site manager of the construction firm engaged in filling the pond, said they were only working for LGED.
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