Khulna WASA still runs under Awami League’s guidance

Khulna Bureau

Following the mass student uprising on August 5, there was a change in the government. The discussed managing director of Khulna WASA, Md. Abdullah also left after the end of his term. Following the completion of the first phase of bringing water from the Madhumoti River and supplying it to Khulna City, preparations for the second phase are now underway.

The process of taking it to the city’s human waste treatment plant through a pipeline is also underway. In addition, the same contractor company was given the job five times. Questions have also been raised about how a foreign contractor company gets the job again and again. It is said that Awami League leaders still run away from WASA.

The then mayor of Khulna City Corporation (KCC), a councilor of Khalishpur region and KCC’s panel mayor, a former general secretary of the Khulna District Bar Association and the then president of the Khulna Chamber of Commerce and Industries, and people from the Awami League are carrying out the work on this project through China Geo Engineering Company. And although it is impossible to calculate the extent of corruption and irregularities in these works, in reality, many examples of corruption have been seen.

But instead of investigating those corruption and irregularities, there are rumors of involving those Awami circle people in new works again, which have raised various questions. Even WASA officials who were previously in various important positions, including project directors, are still in their current positions. Instead, efforts are being made to promote those who were identified as members of the Awami family, given on the pad of a former minister. Even the investigation into the allegations brought against those officials has stalled.

On Saturday, during an on-site inspection of the Khulna WASA sewerage work, it was found that although the colors of the water line and sewage line pipes are supposed to be different, they are not, and the water and sewage pipes are being installed so close that if the pipe bursts, it will be difficult to repair it, and the city residents are also afraid that the WASA water will be contaminated by the mixture of water and dirt.

Again, since the manholes on the road are higher than the septic tanks of the houses in the city, the septic tanks in many areas will not be of any use. Therefore, according to the contractor’s convenience, pressure is now being exerted to have a separate septic tank in each house. There is disagreement about this in many areas of the city. It was seen that number three bricks are being given for the sewerage work in many places, the location of the manhole chamber, and even the casting is not correct in many places.

The concerned WASA officials were not seen supervising whether the slabs of the pipes through which the dirt will go are also in order. The work is going on as per the contractor’s wishes. Many fear that this may create obstacles in the future in taking human waste to Mathabhanga or Hogladanga’s Tikraband treatment plant through the sewage pipeline. According to relevant sources, 1.8 million people live in the 46 square kilometer Khulna metropolis. WASA was established in 2008 in response to the demands of the city residents.

The Khulna water supply project was completed between 2013 and 2019 at a cost of Tk 2.5 billion. Through that project, water from the Madhumoti River in Gopalganj is being brought through a 33-kilometer pipeline and supplied to Khulna city after being purified in Rupsa. But there are allegations of various irregularities regarding the pipeline, treatment plant, and even the work of digging and laying pipes in the city’s roads. The company that did the water supply work is also doing the drainage work, China Geo Company. Even the ongoing sewerage project is still under the control of the officials who did the work on subcontracts during the Awami regime.

Khulna WASA’s current managing director and Khulna Additional Divisional Commissioner Hussain Shawkat said, “The corruption and irregularities that happened earlier will not happen again. The discrepancies will be properly monitored and action will be taken. The flaws in the sewerage design will also be reconsidered.”

Advocate Md. Babul Howlader, member secretary of Khulna Civil Society, mentioned that not only the Khulna WASA water pipeline and sewerage, but also the KCC drains are being built unplanned.

Sheikh Ashraf-uz-Zaman, president of the Greater Khulna Development Struggle Coordination Committee, said, “There are doubts about how much citizens will benefit from the sewerage work in Khulna city. Apart from that, there is no coordination in the work of roads, drains and sewerage. “This is gradually increasing public suffering.”