The Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) is planning to construct two bridges for vehicle movement and four pedestrian bridges over the Zirani canal in the capital’s Khilgaon area. The cost of the project has been estimated at Tk 180 million.
The DSCC also has a plan to construct a walkway beside the same canal at a cost Tk 210 million. The canal already has 13 bridges over it. There is no need for additional bridges there. At the same time, there is not enough room to construct a walkway there. The DSCC has designed a plan to undertake a Tk-17-billion-project for the recovery of Zirani canal, its restoration and the construction of six bridges.
Similarly, the DSCC also has planned to restore and beautify the three other canals in the city – Manda, Shyampur and Kalunagar – and construct bridges over them.
The then government approved a project worth Tk 8.98 billion for the development of these canals following a relevant proposal from the DSCC in 2020. The main goal of this project was to prevent waterlogging in Dhaka. These four canals carry the water from the areas under the DSCC to adjacent rivers.
The urban planners say it is more important to enhance water flow of the canals than building concrete structures surrounding them. Instead of doing that, the city corporation is focusing more on wasting money. So it is imperative to look into whether the officials involved in this project have any other interest behind taking up the project.
There are allegations that former DSCC mayor Sheikh Fazle Nur developed the plan without any field survey and got the government approval for this using his power. He planned to give the contract for this development project to party activists loyal to him.
Speaking to Prothom Alo, DSCC chief executive officer (CEO) Mizanur Rahman said the project would be reviewed. The project will be cancelled if it contains any unnecessary plans and proposals. They will be cautious to avoid wasting money at any cost. Already the director of this project has been replaced after allegations of irregularities surfaced.
57 unnecessary bridges
The DSCC planned to construct six bridges over the Zirani canal and six bridges for vehicle movement and 22 pedestrian bridges over the Manda canal under this project. The project also includes construction of nine vehicle bridges and six pedestrian bridges over the Shyampur canal and four vehicle bridges and four pedestrian bridges over the Kalunagar canal. The cost of this project is estimated at Tk 1.7 billion.
Speaking to Prothom Alo on condition of anonymity, two officials of the engineering department of the DSCC said not only the bridges, there are also several other unnecessary infrastructures in the plan of this project. The project proposal was prepared without the consent of locals.
Manda area resident Shafiqul Islam told Prothom Alo several persons have already built bridges over the canal on their individual initiatives. So there is no need to construct another 28 bridges over the canal.
Another DSCC official, speaking to Prothom Alo on condition of anonymity, said there is no scope to build eight more bridges over the Kalunagar canal. There is no such demand from the locals either.
Earlier in 2021, the DSCC constructed a bridge in the Manda Shesh Matha area at a cost of Tk 50 million under a project. However, the bridge has been lying abandoned for three and half years as there is no linking road at the end of the bridge. That project also includes bridges over the Zirani canal. However, the construction was stopped as there was no road on the other side. Now the city corporation wants to build another six bridges on that very Zirani canal.
No room for walkways
The Jirani canal has a large road on one side and a colony on the other. So there is no space for any walkway there. The DSCC nevertheless planned to construct walkways beside the canal. The DSCC wants to build walkways along the Manda, Shyampur and Kalunagar canals at the costs of Tk 395.7 million, Tk 100 million and Tk 300 million respectively.
Other extra costs
Some Tk 98.7 million has been allocated to install some 771 electric poles in the four canals under this project. As such, the estimated cost for each pole stands at Tk 128,000. The officials of the DSCC engineering department are saying the cost for installing an electric pole was Tk 65,000-70,000 on average in the other projects implemented by the DSCC.
Apart from that, the DSCC allocated Tk 310 million for constructing food courts beside three canals. Some Tk 330 million was allocated to remove wastes and sediments from the canals. However, the DSCC spent only Tk 15 million for the same works in 2021.
Officials relevant to the project claim they will remove more sediment this time. The estimated cost rose due to that.
However, an official of the DSCC engineering department told Prothom Alo dredging silt from the rivers and canals is part of their regular works. An investigation could be launched to find why Tk 330 million was estimated as the cost in this project.
The whole project was devised by DSCC supervising engineer Khairul Baker. Speaking to Prothom Alo, he said he was not in charge of the project. Speaking regarding the unnecessary infrastructures, he said, “Those would be needed in the way they wanted to restore the canals.
Everybody has to take liability
Bangladesh Institute of Planners (BIP) president Adil Mohammed Khan said, “Showing a higher estimation for a low-cost project means it was taken only to embezzle money. The situation is so grave that the relevant organisation doesn’t even bother about people’s sufferings. The former mayor should not be the only liable person. Everyone involved in the project has liabilities and they should be brought to book.”
*This report appeared on the print and online versions of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Ashish Basu