No scope for nepotism, corruption in river erosion control: State Minister

No scope for nepotism or corruption will be allowed in river erosion control work, warned State Minister for Water Resources Farhad Hossain Azad. He said, "Our primary goal is to ensure that no house or establishment in the country is lost to the river. We will bring corruption down to a tolerable level and eventually to zero. No irregularities will be tolerated in PDB's sandbag or embankment work."

He made the remarks while addressing locals during an inspection of the Kachkol Sadak Tari area of the right bank protection embankment of the Brahmaputra River in Chilmari, Kurigram, on Saturday, August 8.

The state minister said, "We have already started emergency protective work before the floods. Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's clear directive is to go directly to the affected areas and ensure sustainable and permanent solutions. As a person from the northern region, I have a special sense of responsibility towards this area."

Referring to a permanent project worth approximately Tk 1,700 crore to prevent erosion of the Brahmaputra River, Farhad Hossain Azad said there are plans to implement two major projects on the Brahmaputra — one worth about Tk 900 crore and another Tk 800 crore. For now, geo-bags are being used to manage the situation, but for a long-term solution, permanent embankments will be built with blocks to stop river erosion completely.

Urging locals to remain vigilant about the quality and transparency of the Water Development Board's work, the state minister said, "There is no longer any scope for claiming bills for 200 bags while using 100, or providing 160 kg instead of the specified 175 kg. The government means the people, so it is your moral duty to ensure accountability for every taka spent on this work. You must also keep an eye on the supervision of the work, not just rely on engineers or contractors."

During the inspection, Kurigram-3 MP Mahbubul Alam Salehi, Kurigram-4 MP Mostafizur Rahman, reserved seat MP Suraiya Jerin Roni, Kurigram Deputy Commissioner Annapurna Debnath, Kurigram Water Development Board Executive Engineer Rakibul Hasan, district BNP convenor Mostafizar Rahman and member secretary and district council administrator Sohel Hossain Kaykobad, along with local leaders, were present.

Later, the state minister toured the river erosion situation by waterway throughout the day, visiting the Kachkol embankment in Chilmari, Namajer Char in Ulipur upazila, Sukherbati in Roumari upazila and Kodalkati in Rajibpur upazila.