169 crore loss of tree planting: Writ seeking inquiry

Under the three-year (2017-20) Ponds and Canals Development Project, canals were dug across the country to plant banks. However, even though the canal has been dug, Tk 169 crore of the allocation has been withdrawn without planting trees on the banks of the canal. A writ has been filed in the High Court seeking an inquiry into the incident.

Arifur Rahman Bhuiyan, a resident of Narsingdi filed the writ on Thursday (September 5).

The ACC chairman and the related parties have been made defendants in the writ.

On July 8, a report was published in a national daily under the title 'Taka 169 crore withdrawal without planting trees'. According to the report, under the three-year (2017-20) pond and canal development project, after digging canals across the country, trees were to be planted on the banks. However, even though the canal has been dug, Tk 169 crore of the allocation has been withdrawn without planting trees on the banks of the canal. Recently, this information has emerged in the intensive monitoring report of the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Department (IMED) of the Ministry of Planning. According to the inspection observation of the report, in the revised DPP, trees are supposed to be planted on both sides of the canal for canal development, but the matter of planting trees on the open ground has not been observed.

According to IMED sources, the local government engineering department has undertaken pond and canal development projects across the country at a cost of Tk 1,757 crore to increase the use of surface water. A plan was taken to plant trees on the banks of 1,700 kilometers of canals to prevent the banks from collapsing. And 663 crores have been earmarked for canal development and plantation projects. In this till last April, 169 crores of expenditure in this sector has been withdrawn, but trees have not been planted on the bank of the canal after excavation.