Allegations of irregularities and corruption have surfaced over the use of substandard geo bags in temporary riverbank protection work in Kurigram.
The project, worth Tk33 crore, was undertaken by the Kurigram office of the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) during the current flood season.
Local residents say poor-quality geo bags are being used indiscriminately across major projects, causing the structures to deteriorate even before the completion deadline and rendering large portions of the government-funded schemes ineffective.
BWDB has so far cancelled around 43,000 geo bags after objections from riverbank communities, but affected families remain worried about the future of the projects and the role of senior officials as erosion continues to threaten homes and farmland.
According to an investigation, BWDB Kurigram is implementing 133 emergency works covering 6.205 kilometres under temporary erosion control programmes this flood season, at a total cost of Tk33 crore.
The project placed around 7,84,000 geo bags along vulnerable river stretches.
Under NDR Package No. 1, contractor Messrs United Brothers is carrying out a 350-metre erosion protection project at Ghorialdanga Nakhenda on the Teesta River in Rajarhat Upazila, where 31,550 geo bags were laid against an allocation of Tk1.76 crore.
Following protests by local residents over poor workmanship, BWDB was forced to cancel 6,001 geo bags, although the contractor has already withdrawn around 50 per cent of the bill, locals alleged.
Contacted for comment, proprietor of United Brothers Jafar Tagdir denied any wrongdoing, saying, “We did not do any such work there. You may have some misunderstanding.”
Under Package No. 33, Messrs Belal Construction is working on a 100-metre stretch at Kalirhat in Rajarhat Upazila, claiming 70 per cent completion of the work.
However, BWDB sources said 2,089 geo bags were cancelled out of the allocated 52,000 due to quality issues.
Proprietor Belal admitted to flaws in the work, saying, “Some faults were found in my work and I could not withdraw the full bill. I will complete the work properly and then collect the remaining payment.”
In the same upazila, Messrs Nirmata Kaushali is implementing Package No. 32 to protect a 260-metre stretch at Chatura on the Teesta River, with instructions to dump 18,750 geo bags.
After sustained resistance from residents, BWDB cancelled 4,293 geo bags over allegations of substandard quality.
Locals also alleged that technical guidelines were ignored, as none of the geo bags met the prescribed filling standards of 0.8 FM thickness for PSF bags and 1.0 thickness for polypropylene bags.
Abdul Haque, a resident of Kalirhat, said BWDB officials relied on local political leaders to implement the projects to suppress protests.
“As a result, contractors carried out careless and low-quality work. The government funds are failing to serve their purpose. Senior BWDB officials only make token visits without taking effective action,” he said.
Badrul Mia of Ghorialdanga Nakhenda said officials tried to pass off inferior work as acceptable.
“Many geo bags were cancelled only because of our resistance. Otherwise, everything would have been approved. We have heard that bills were paid even without proper work. The contractor has now stopped working and does not come to the area anymore,” he added.
Another local resident, Allama Iqbal Anik, said despite hundreds of crores being allocated for erosion control in poverty-hit Kurigram, corruption by a section of officials had put the money at risk.
“Dumping geo bags or blocks alone will not solve Teesta erosion. Dredging and changing the river’s course are essential to protect homesteads and thousands of acres of cropland,” he said.
Responding to the allegations, Kurigram BWDB Executive Engineer Rakibul Islam said contractors were instructed to procure geo bags from reputed suppliers.
“All substandard geo bags have already been cancelled. There is no scope to implement works using low-quality geo bags,” he said.
