Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Cox's Bazar, Cox's Bazar Hotels, Hotel Rates, Cox's Bazar Restaurants
Open spaces in the hotel motel zone of Cox's Bazar beach are being filled with earth from hills, violating the government's order.
Sources said workers are carrying earth by digging into hills in broad daylight to fill in the open spaces in absence of an effective monitoring system of the local administration.
Hill cutting, one of the key factors responsible for harming the environment and biodiversity of the hilly areas, is prohibited by law.
Besides, the government in a recent order issued a ban on the transfer, sale and purchase of plots allotted in the Hotel Motel Zone and construction of any structure there Principal Sharmin Reshmin, chief of Cox's Bazar Paribesh Bachao Andolon, said hill cutting is going on at different places of Cox's Bazar town from Saturday morning and earth is being taken to fill up five to six plots in the hotel motel zone. But the administration is not taking any action in this regard, she alleged.
The deputy commissioner (DC) has been informed about the issues of hill cutting and filling of earth in hotel motel zone adjacent to the beach. The DC has assured them of stopping these activities, she said.
A worker preferring anonymity said they are working on a daily wage basis to fill the plots. Earth is being cut from the hills in the west side of the hotel motel zone, Kolatali, Larpara and Pahartali areas. No one obstructs them from bringing earth from the hill.
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During a spot visit to the zone Saturday morning, this correspondent saw some young men supervising the earth filling work. Engineer Nasirul Islam of Dhaka based developer Rupayan was supervising the whole work with the youths.
Nasirul said, "
Asked how they were filling the plot with earth of hill ignoring government ban, Nasirul said, "Chittagong-based contractor Alamgir Hossain is doing the work of earth filling. I don't know from where earth is being brought."
About obtaining clearance from the Directorate of Environment (DoE) for constructing the building, Nasirul said, "The company has started work by taking all necessary permission. I'm simply supervising the work."
When contacted over cell phone, contractor Alamgir Hossain said, "It's not me. Rupayan is filling earth using local people. I have got the work of constructing the boundary wall of the plot. We have not yet started the work. The boundary will be constructed after filling earth in the plot."
Cox's Bazar Zone Inspector of DoE Mizanur Rahman said the hill cutting could not be stopped. In last seven days, owners of 26 hotels were served show cause notices against earth filling and other irregularities. Cases have been filed against two hotels.
He said construction of structures without the clearance of DoE is banned at the ecologically endangered area of the beach. No firm named 'Rupayan' has been given clearance to construct building.
Md Saidul Islam, divisional forest officer of Cox's Bazar (South) Forest Department, said hill cutting could not be stopped despite several raids.
DC Md Gias Uddin Ahmed said, "Earth filling and construction of structures in the hotel motel zone has been stopped for the time being. If anybody fills earth in the plots there, legal action would be taken against them. We are investigating the matter of hill cutting and earth filling."
Monday, July 6, 2009
Moon ride on Dhaka roads
Poor road conditions, delayed repairs and continuous road diggings have left many residents suffering at different places around the city.
Road works completed after digging up roads, and then filled back, have been left without complete repairs, adding to the misery of commuters.
The monsoon rains, as every other year, have made the dug up roads risky for commuting. The number of accidents on such roads has also increased, as has traffic congestion in the same areas.
Busy roads at Jurain, Postogola (near
On one hand dilapidated roads pose risks to commuters and on the other, different utility service agencies including WASA have also been busy digging up different roads even with the onset of the monsoons.
Adding to this is the roads which were dug up some five months back for works and have since not been re-carpeted. These include
The DCC has also left roads in Mohammadpur -- including the very busy
DCC, which collects a digging fee from companies, which dig up the road for works, is supposed to re-carpet the roads once work is completed and the dug up roads filled again. Experts say that delays by DCC lead to the easy damage of roads as they are left in vulnerable conditions without any carpeting for heavy vehicles to ply on them. Rains only expedite the damage.
The road near the first
On Sunday, a truck carrying bricks from Rajendrapur -- ironically to repair the road on a temporary basis -- overturned on a large pothole. Such accidents are a regular phenomenon in the area, residents say.
Md Zakir, a driver of
Jahangir, owner of Bikrampur Pharmacy near the road, said he witnesses around 10 accidents on this road daily, all caused by the large potholes. Rickshaws, cars, buses and trucks fall alike into the potholes injuring passengers.
Haji Mohammad Osman Gani, president of the Dhaka Zila Truck Malik Samity, said around 12 trucks had accidents because of the large potholes on the roads in the last one month.
It costs around Tk 3000 to 4000 to hire other vehicles to pull up one single truck from there, he said.
Sub-divisional engineer of sub-division-2 of Roads and Highway Department Nur Hossain said they have already started repair works in the area and are now filling up the potholes with a sub-base of brick chips and sand. A thicker layer of bricks would be laid atop this, he said.
"This is a temporary repair of the road. When we repair it on a permanent basis, we will seal this with a layer of bitumen," he said.
Nur said lack of a drainage system led to the logging of water here that flows from Jurain rail gate and
"We need to set up a drainage line connecting to
Sub-assistant engineer of Munishiganj division Md Firoz Alam also said that a drainage line is needed from Postogola to Postogola Shenanibash near the bridge linking
Waterlogging is the main cause behind damage of roads repaired only last year, he said.
The road from Basabo Flyover to Nandipara has been in a desperate condition for the last two and a half years, said resident of Madartek Mamun.
Mir
Mokhlesur Rahman, a resident of
These roads were in good condition before that, he said.
Meanwhile, fresh diggings have started at different points of the city including Karwan Bazar, Moghbazar Wireless Railgate to Nayatola-Modhubagh and
DCC Mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka, when contacted, said they would take immediate steps to repair the dug up roads. He also said that repair of dilapidated roads would be taken up soon.
Govt's fair price for farmers gobbled up
Massive irregularities have gripped the public food distribution and procurement system in Kushtia as a section of food officials in connivance with dishonest rice traders are pocketing huge money through a 'buyback' arrangement.
Allegations are there against the food officials that they force the recipients of rice sanctioned under the government's test relief (TR) programme to sell the same at a lower price to the rice traders.
The traders then resell the rice to the eight public granaries in the district at a premium price under the current food procurement drive.
Sources said a section of officials of food godowns are compelling TR recipients to sell the rice to certain rice traders at Tk 15,000 per tonne and then they are procuring it from the traders at Tk 22,000, making a hefty profit of Tk 7,000 per tonne.
The profit from the 'buyback' arrangement is being shared among the traders and godown officials, sources alleged.
The government has launched the ongoing food procurement drive to provide fair price to the farmers.
On June 24, some local journalists during a spot visit to a district food godown first observed the matter. The journalists informed high officials of the district administration of the irregularities.
Additional District Magistrate Md Fazlur Rahman, who is heading a three-member committee to investigate the food scam, told The Daily Star that they also found some irregularities as reported. The committee will soon submit its report, he added.
Acting Deputy Commissioner (DC) Ashok Kumar Debnath told this correspondent that they would send the report to the ministry concerned soon after receiving it.
“Actions against the culprits involved in the scam will be determined by the higher authorities,” he said.
As per the rules, different institutions at the grassroots get sanctions through applications for TR rice for small repair and rehabilitation works, which they implement with the proceeds coming from the sales of the sanctioned foodgrains.
The government this time has fixed the rate per tonne TR rice at Tk 29,429, but the TR recipients in most cases are being compelled to sell their sanctioned grains at half the price.
Besides, there are allegations of gross irregularities against the institutions receiving the TR allocations from the government.
Sources said a major portion of rice sanctioned for different institutions is being misused due to lack of monitoring. In many cases, the institutions do not use the rice for development works as prayed for.
This correspondent visited some institutions that got allocations and found the allegations of misuse were largely true. For instance, one religious institution under Kushtia Sadar Upazila received one tonne of TR rice for earth filling but it ended up using the same for buying stationeries for the institution.
A total of 5,608 tonnes of rice was allotted for the district in the current season. So far, 2,390 and 934 tonnes have been exhausted in two phases while the third and last phase of 2,284 tonnes is being sanctioned now against various TR applicants.
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