Polls without BNP won’t be acceptable:former adviser to a caretaker government Dr Akbar Ali Khan,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

Voicing doubt about the next general election amid opposing stance of the two major political parties, former adviser to a caretaker government Dr Akbar Ali Khan on Friday said any election without participation of the main opposition will not be acceptable.

“Participation of the opposition parties is a must to make the election meaningful. If the main opposition doesn’t take part in the polls, it won’t be meaningful and acceptable at home and abroad,” he said.

Dr Akbar Ali came up with the observation at a discussion, titled ‘Ongoing Political Crisis: Way Out’, at the National Press Club.

Addressing the programme, the former adviser said the countrymen are in doubt whether the next election will be held or not. The scrapping of the caretaker system has raised uncertainty as to who will conduct the polls. “The ongoing political crisis has pushed the people into a dark abyss.”

He also suggested the government restore the caretaker government system for the sake of holding a free, fair and credible election.

Emphasising taking initiative to resolve the political crisis, Dr Akbar Ali said that if the political parties fail to reach understanding before the polls, the democracy will be at stake and people may lose their voting rights.

2 Kushtia Medical College students drown in Kushtia river,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

Two students of Kushtia Medical College drowned Friday afternoon when they went to the river Garai in Kushtia Sadar upazila for taking bath.

Divers recovered the bodies of Shahjalal Mazumder Rifat, 20, and Faridur Islam Milon, 21, from Ghoraghat area in the evening, said Kazi Jalal Uddin, officer-in-charge of Kushtia Model Police Station.

Dr Iftekharul Islam, principle of the college, said a group of students, including three females, went to the river near Rain Weak around 2:30pm for bath without informing them.

On information, the college authorities along with police rushed to the spot and began a rescue operation in the river, reports our Kushtia correspondent.

Three female students were admitted to Kushtia General Hospital while the rest given first aid, the principle said.

16 held with fake JB recruitment test questions Siddique Bazar,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) detained 16 persons at a city hotel early Friday and seized fake question papers of recruitment test of executive officers of Janata Bank.

Lt Col Kamrul Islam, commanding officer of Rab-10, said acting on a tip-off, the elite force members raided the hotel at Siddique Bazar in the old part of the capital around 3:00am and made the arrests.

The Rab men also recovered some copies of a handwritten question paper containing 100 questions, the Rab official said.

Meanwhile, the two-hour long recruitment test of the bank was held at 10:00am.

After inquiring about the question papers, the Rab authority did not find similarity between the question papers of the test and seized question papers, Kamrul said.

The arrestees will be handed over to police later in the day, he said.

Next book fair to be dedicated to playwright and filmmaker Humayun Ahmed: Bangla Academy Chairman Professor Anisuzzaman has,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

The next Amar Ekushey Book Fair, country's largest book festival, will be dedicated to late celebrated author, playwright and filmmaker Humayun Ahmed, Bangla Academy Chairman Professor Anisuzzaman has said.

"Besides, his manuscripts and things marking his memories will be preserved at the Writer and Laureate Museum set up in the Bangla Academy complex," he said at a meeting organised at Bangla Academy on Thursday to pay tribute to the noted litterateur.

For over two decades, the books written by Humayun Ahmed topped sales in the Ekushey Book Fair, which marks the heroic Language Movement. Publishers admit that the writer contributed most to the present healthy condition of the publication industry in Bangladesh.

Bangla Academy Director General Shamsuzzaman Khan also said that that they would publish a commemorative book containing written discussion on 10 selected novels of the late writer.

"A series of written discussions will be arranged in the next three months centering 10 selected novels of Humayun Ahmed. Later, a commemorative book will be published comprising the discussions."

Khan said a special publication on Humayun Ahmed would also be published soon in 'Uttaradhikar', the periodical journal of the Academy.

Addressing the meeting, Information Minister Abul Kalam Azad said, "Humaun Ahmed had made a multidimensional contribution to the Bengali literature. His creations have crossed the national boundaries and also received international accolades."

"Such a great writer can never die. He will remain alive among the readers through the coming generations," he added.

Chaired by Prof Anisuzzaman, the meeting was also addressed, among others, by famous author and novelist Selina Hossain, poet and writer Syed Shamsul Haque, journalists Saleh Chowdhury and Anisul Haque, Publisher Alamgir Rahman, poet Aslam Sani, cultural activists Golam Kuddus, Muhammad Jahangir and Mohit Kamal, and Cultural Affairs Secretary Suriya Begum.

Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee kills writer and filmmaker Humayun Ahmed’s Father:State Minister for Law Advocate Quamrul Islam,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

State Minister for Law Advocate Quamrul Islam Thursday said detained Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee is the “killer” of slain writer and filmmaker Humayun Ahmed’s father.

He came up with the allegation while addressing a commemoration programme of the eminent writer at Dhaka Reporters’ Unity in the city.

The ruling Awami League lawmaker said, “Sayedee killed Humayun’s father Faizur Rahman Ahmed during the liberation war while he was working a police official in Pirojpur district.”

He added: “Sayedee was involved with the murder and now the killer is facing trial.”

The state minister said Humayun made a parrot to utter “Tui Rajakar” (You are Rajakar) in one of his plays.

“The word became an inspiration for me in conducting the trial of the war criminals,” he said.

Quamrul said, “Humayun expressed his hatred for rajakars using his plays. The young generation will not forgive us if we fail to try the war criminals as Humayun was very popular to the young people.”

He said, “The trial of war criminals should be completed as soon as possible in order to make the nation stigma free.”

Chapainawabganj Adhunik Sadar Hospital:itself in bad health for long,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

Health services at Adhunik Sadar Hospital in the town remain in a deplorable condition due to the shortage of doctors, staffs and accommodation facilities.

There are only 18 doctors against 35 posts at the 'full-fledged' hospital meant for 16 lakh people of the district.

Other important posts, including those of 14 specialist doctors and a medical officer of homeopathy are also lying vacant for long.

At present there is no senior consultant at cardiology, children, anesthesia, medicine departments and no junior consultants at several departments including child and plastic surgery, said sources at civil surgeon office here.

Besides, the posts of hospital superintendent, service superintendent, administrative officer, statistics officer, accountant, storekeeper and other 43 are also vacant.

Only four medical officers treat outdoor patients while three emergency medical officers are working at the emergency department.

The hospital was upgraded to a 100-bed one from 50-bed capacity in September 2006 without arranging adequate manpower,

The Prime Minister announced at a public meeting on Chapainawabganj Government College premises on April 23, 2011 that the hospital would be upgraded to a 250-bed one in the near future but the promise is yet to be fulfilled.

The existing manpower also do not perform their duties properly. Patients crowd in front of the doctors' chamber while doctors idle away their time on different excuses, patients alleged.

The consultants do not stay at their quarters in the hospital compound. Emergency patients who come to the hospital in the afternoon or at night are often deprived of their services, hospital sources said.

During a visit to Chapainawabganj Adhunik Sadar Hospital recently, this correspondent saw scores of patients lying on the floor of different wards, passages and corridors.

A patient from Masjidpara in the town said that medical representatives often visit doctors at duty hours.

“I came here at 9:00am and failed to visit any doctor till 2:00pm”, he said adding, many patients like him return home after waiting for long.

Many others patients and their attendants made similar allegations.

A medical officer of the hospital said “We have to serve some 400 to 500 outdoor patients daily. Sometimes patients and their attendants become frustrated, as we cannot give proper attention to them”.

Indoor treatment is also badly hampered due to lack of doctors. On an average, 300 to 400 patients stay at different wards daily although there are only 100 beds at the hospital.

An elderly patient of Kalitala village under Nachole upazila said that she had been staying on the floor since her admission several days ago.

Another from Kamlakantapur village of Shibgonj upazila told the same tale.

There is a big generator at the hospital to supply electricity during power outages. However it is never used for lack of budget,

Dr Asit Sarkar, residential medical officer (RMO) at the hospital, said they could not run the generator because of manpower shortage.

We are trying to give better treatment to the patients, he asserted.

Contacted, Civil Surgeon Md Abu Yusuf said they sent several letters to the higher authorities concerned asking for steps to fill up the vacant posts but to no effect yet.

He also said that the hospital was providing its best services with the hinted resources.

30th Olympiad Stage set for the'Isle of Wonder' Olympics open London today,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

The eyes of the whole world will be fixated firmly on London tonight and the organising committee of the 30th Olympiad could hardly have picked a better man to whom they could hand the keys to direct the much-vaunted 'greatest show on earth'.

On early evidence (courtesy of two rehearsal screenings) Danny Boyle's three-act magnum opus, marvellously titled the 'Isle of Wonder' is a winner that will enthral audiences for the best part of its three-hour duration which starts at 2am Bangladesh time.

For most sports, opening ceremonies are a chore; a necessary distraction before people get down to the real business. For the Olympics, this is markedly different. Opening ceremonies often set the tone for rest of the Games -- consider Beijing's remarkable pyro-techniques that doubled as coming out party in 2008, consider too a shaking Muhammad Ali lighting the torch in Atlanta 1996, or the archer of fire in Barcelona in 1992. All of these are moments frozen into the collective psyche courtesy of a flashbulb memory -- wondrous, charming, and endlessly recallable.

London's challenge was to create something similar and so they turned to Boyle who is not only a master director, but, most crucially, versatile.

How else does one direct successfully, films as widely different as the rags to riches Slumdog Millionaire, the apocalyptic 28 Days Later and the dark comedy that is Trainspotting?

Perhaps it is this quality above all that had originally endeared him to the organisers. Who better to do a three-act mash-up of Britain's long and storied history? Who better to encompass the Queen, James Bond, Mary Poppins, the Beatles, the NHS, the green fields and quirky humour that characterise the British than Boyle himself?

For all successful shows, the key element is surprise. And Boyle has strived hard to maintain this surprise through the months spent in preparation and through the innovative plea in his two rehearsal shows at the Olympic Park on Monday and Wednesday. He asked the audience to 'save the surprise' and wrote personal e-mails to volunteers to keep mum.

But as always, some details seep through the cracks and the narrative that has emerged of the opening ceremony so far paints it in an eminently positive light.

The whole ceremony is based on William Shakespeare's brilliant play, The Tempest. The title in particular is borrowed from a stirring speech made by the native Caliban to his master Prospero. "Be not afraid," says Caliban, "for the isle is full of noises. Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not."

It is expected that the Isle in this case is Great Britain.

But Shakespeare is just the tip of the iceberg, as Boyle takes the viewers in a journey across Britain in three acts, the first depicting the lush green past of rural Britain complete with live animals, cricket games and horse drawn carts. The second act moves on to the dark days of Britain's Industrial Revolution, best highlighted in the Dickensian novels of those times. Boyle bases his version on a William Blakepoem, which refers to those “Dark Satanic Mills” as the root cause of the decaying of human relationship. The final act of Boyle's work will look at the Post-War transformation of Britain into the tolerant, multi-cultural society that it has become today with references expected to be as wide-ranging as the NHS and the Beatles. Fittingly then, Sir Paul McCartney will provide the coup de grace.

Britain's heaving past will be illustrated with choreographed danced moves and a dizzying array of stunts, the chief of which is expected to be James Bond abseiling into the stadium from a helicopter during the first act.

The opening ceremony will be followed by the traditional elements of the Olympic openings including pigeons, oaths and the athletes' march of 204 nations, which is expected to take about 90 minutes and is scored by Underworld, long associates of Boyle.

For now though, there are a few nervous hours of anticipation remaining until the show officially begins with this 27-million-pound extravaganza which will involve 15,000 performers, 25,000 costumes and an audience in the range of 4 billion -- 60 per cent of the world's population.

20 injured in Farzana Garment workers' clash in Chittagong,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

At least 20 people, including 10 women, were injured as workers of two adjoining garment factories clashed for two hours and a half over a boundary wall dispute in Mansurabad area of Chittagong city yesterday.

All of the injured are workers of Four H Group, police said. They were admitted to Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH).

The Four H Group authorities claimed that the adjoining Farzana Garment intentionally erected a boundary wall to cause trouble to the movement of their vehicles by narrowing their access road.

Yesterday, Four H group workers shouted against Farzana Garment when one of their heavy vehicles could not manage to move on the narrow road. Soon after that, the workers of Farzana Garment fell on them with sticks and iron roads, leaving 20 of them injured, police and witnesses said.

The Farzana Garment workers also vandalised three vehicles of Four H Group, said Motiul Islam, officer-in-charge of Double Mooring Police Station. About 30 policemen were deployed at the scene, he added.

GS Jamil, managing director of Four H Group, said production activities at their factory remained suspended after the clash. He said he would sue Farzana Group.

Owner of Farzana Garment, Mohammad Selim, could not be contacted.

Witness abstains from naming BNP MP Salauddin Quader Chowdhury,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

The ninth prosecution witness against BNP MP Salauddin Quader Chowdhury did not even mention him through his deposition at the first war crimes tribunal.

Witness Parag Dhar had steered so clear of the BNP policymaker that even the conducting prosecutor Zead-Al-Malum protested his witness' cross-examination.

The three-judge International Crimes Tribunal – 1, set up on Mar 25, 2010 to try crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War, indicted the six-time MP from Chittagong for 23 charges on Apr 4.

Parag Dhar, who was only seven during the Liberation War said that Fazlul Quader Chowdhury, Salauddin Quader's father, headed the newly formed Muslim League at that time.

He said that there were many instances of lootings and persecution in places like Gohira, Jagatmallapara and Kundeshwari. This apparently prompted his parents to pack up and leave their village in Gohira.

Upon their return from Kolkata after the war, Dhar said his house had been looted. Their jeep had also been taken away. "We had heard that Fazlul Quader Chowdhury had led this looting."

Prosecutor Sultan Mahmud, who was conducting the deposition then asked, "Were any of his children involved?"

The entire defence team was up in arms in voluble protest pointing out that it was a leading question.

Tribunal chairman, Justice Mohammad Nizamul Huq said, "We are here and we are listening to what is going on."

He then told the prosecutor that it was a leading question and could not be put to the witness.

Sultan Mahmud rephrased. "Do you know anything further about the incident?"

But the tribunal chief stopped him. "Wait let me ask the question."

The tribunal chief asked the witness whether he knew anything and witness promptly replied with an emphatic, "No."

Sultan Mahmud then proceeded to redundant formality that the prosecutors regularly go through despite the tribunal assuring them that identification of the accused was not necessary when the person was such a public figure.

He asked the witness whether the accused man could be seen in the court. The tribunal intervened again saying, "But the witness has not even mentioned his name. He did, however, mention Fazlul Quader Chowdhury."

The defence counsel Ahsanul Huq then proceeded to cross-examine the witness with the tribunal stiffly reminding him that there must not be any irrelevant questions. "There must not be a single irrelevant question."

The defence counsel reassured the tribunal that he would ask valid questions.

It was only after Ahsanul Huq had established through his cross-examination that the witness knew one Nirmal Chandra Sharma, a previous prosecution witness, and his brother Sunil who Nirmal said had been shot dead by Pakistani soldiers in the presence of Salauddin Quader.

Parag Dhar said he knew the brothers, although he was not acquainted with Nirmal at a personal level. The defence counsel then asked Dhar when he visited India for the last time. "About three years ago."

"Did you meet Sunil then?" asked the counsel.

The witness said he had not at first. "But I don't really remember. I might have."

After another question, Zead-Al-Malum, the conducting prosecutor of the case stood up to protest the cross-examination.

"He was only a boy of seven, my lord. What is the relevance of this question?"

He also told the court that the witness had not even mentioned the name of Salauddin Quader Chowdhury in his deposition. "There is no point cross-examining the witness."

"We have heard you. Do sit down please," said Justice Huq.

Malum replied, "You can't force me to sit down."

"Then keep standing," said the tribunal chief and made to move on with the proceedings but Malum would not relent. "He is asking questions on Salauddin Quader's lawyer not his father."

The BNP leader's booming voice could be heard from the back, "Let's just say I am here on behalf of my late father."

Tribunal member Judge A K M Zaheer Ahmed said, "It is not really completely irrelevant. Let's just see where he goes with this."

"But can you really go beyond this, my lord?" asked Zead-Al-Malum holding up a blue bound volume, presumably his copy of the tribunal's act and rules of procedure.

"Perhaps, and please don't take it the wrong way, perhaps it would have better if the witness were not produced at all and we could have called it a day a little earlier," said the judge.

Ahsanul Huq resumed his questioning. "The incidents you referred to were all carried out by Razakars and the Pakistani Army, right?"

"So I heard," said the witness.

He then suggested, "That you say Fazlul Quader Chowdhury had been involved was because the investigation officer had told you to."

"Not true," said the witness.

That wrapped up another quick session of deposition and cross-examination in Salauddin Quader's case.

Ahsanul Huq concluded was done with his cross-examination with just two suggestions for the last witness.  

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia:at Badruddoza's Iftar party,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia on Thursday attended an Iftar party thrown by the Bikalpadhara Bangladesh, the party formed by its President AQM Badruddoza after deserting BNP.

Khaleda Zia was seen sitting beside Badruddoza, who left BNP after he was forced to follow the party's diktat to resign as the President, on the dais erected for the Iftar party on the parliament premises.

Barrister Rafiq Ul Huq and Krishak-Shramik Janata League President Kader Siddiqui, among others, also shared the dais with Khaleda.

BNP's Acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Forward Party President ABM Mostafa Amin and Bikalpadhara Secretary General Abdul Mannan were seated on the left of Badruddoza.

One of BNP's founder members, Badruddoza became the President in 2001 after the party assumed power. But he was forced to resign from the post following a party decision. In protest, he and his son Mahi B Chowdhury deserted the party immediately and floated the new political outfit.

Khaleda attending the Iftar surprised to many in the political circles, as Bikalpadhara is not even a member of the BNP–led 18-party opposition coalition.

The Iftar party was also attended by Awami League-led ruling alliance's partner Jatiya Party's Secretary General Ruhul Amin Howlader and former Awami League Organising Secretary and current Member Secretary of Nagarik Oikya Mahmudur Rahman Manna. 

Fire in Baku Shah Market tamed,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

The fire that broke out in Baku Shah Market near Nilkhet in the capital on Thursday night has been brought under control.

Fire fighters tamed the fire erupting in some book shops situated in the market opposite the main gate of New Market under control after hour-long efforts.

"The fire is under control now. Six fire-fighting units are trying to douse it completely," Fire Service Deputy Assistant Director Abdul Halim told around 11.30.

He said most of shops were closed when the fire broke out between Islamia and Baku Shah Market.

Halim said fire gutted two shops completely while another 15 to 20 shops have been damaged.

"The fire seemed devastating initially. But luckily it was brought under control without much delay," he added.

However, a book shop owner Morshed Alam Juwel told that the fire burnt down at least 50 shops.

Around 10:45pm, the fire service control room had said it had despatched fire fighting units and that they were trying to control the flames

The market is situated on the periphery of the Dhaka University campus. It is known for its numerous bookshops and other printing services. 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina assures Britons of fair polls,London-Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

The Prime Minister has told a group of British MPs that Bangladesh will hold elections like any other democratic nation.

Sheikh Hasina received the members of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Bangladesh at her St Pancras Renaissance Hotel room on Thursday afternoon.

She discussed parliamentary government, democracy, elections and the socio-economic scene of Bangladesh with the MPs, Hasina's Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad told the press.

The Prime Minister mentioned the more than 5,200 elections, including parliamentary by-elections and local government elections, were held during her government's current tenure.

She said that many opposition candidates had won these elections, which showed that the elections were free and fair.

Hasina told the group that Bangladesh's Election Commission was independent and it faced no interference from the government.

She reflected on her long struggle for democracy and asserted that nothing that could impede democracy would be tolerated.

The Prime Minister told the members of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Bangladesh that the opposition leader had been present on only eight days in the ninth parliament.

She remarked that military rule had impeded growth for a long time in the country and called for increased investments from the United Kingdom. She also talked about special economic zones.

Lord Sheikh, Baroness Tonge, Keith Vaz, Peter Bottomley, Jim Fitzpatrick and Rushanara Ali were members of the group. They praised Hasina's efforts in development of Bangladesh.

Foreign Minister Dipu Moni, ambassador-at-large M Ziauddin and Bangladesh's High Commissioner in London Saidur Rahman were also present at the meeting.

Earlier, Lord Ahmed of Wimbledon called on the Prime Minister. He praised the Prime Minister's initiatives in different international forums for climate change. 

The Power Grid Company of Bangladesh Ltd (PGCB): under-construction Jatrabari-Gulistan flyover Torn-up Road diggers trade blame,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

The usual game is on. The utility agencies responsible for digging up the roads in the capital during the rainy season are blaming each other for the mess.

Government agencies dealing with water, electricity, gas and telephone services this year too are digging up city roads all at a time without any coordination among themselves and “coinciding” with the monsoon.

Even some dug-up roads that had been claimed to be done with by agencies have been filled up without much care and defying rules.

According to the rules, any agency or individual that requires digging up a road must fill the trench with sand after the work is done. Then it becomes the city corporation's responsibility to restore the road to its normal state. But in many cases, utility agencies have filled dug-up roads with mud.

The city's Jatrabari, Sayedabad, Tikatuli, Kamalapur, Mirpur, Demra, Uttara, Gulshan and Dhanmondi areas have many roads either strewn with potholes or being dug up and left without repair.

As a result, stagnant water from seasonal downpours is making the potholes invisible leaving commuting in the capital perilous than ever.

A couple of weeks ago, Manzoor Hossain, a sports organiser, while going to Wari from Gulshan got stuck on a worn out muddy road near Abhisar Cinema in the capital's Haatkhola area.

He also told about a cargo-laden truck that had fallen into a loosely filled trench dug by a utility service agency near Rajdhani Super Market in Tikatuli. The truck remained there dangerously tilted disrupting traffic movement.

“It took me more than an hour by a rickshaw to go the distance of a 10-minute walk. The entire stretch of the road is badly damaged and covered with ankle-deep mud,” said Manzoor.

Md Alim Uddin, an employee of Sonar Bangla Transport in Bakshibazar, said at least three cargo trucks got trapped in the trench dug by Dhaka Water and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) in the area, as the filling could not take the load.

Raju Ahmed, manager of a restaurant close to Alim's office, said Wasa had filled up the trench with mud. This has been hampering businesses in the locality for the last several days.”

Fatima Ahmed, a resident of road No-126 in Gulshan, said Wasa had dug up the road in March but the city corporation was yet to repair it. Apart from mess created due to the digging, the road was full of craters.

Mirpur resident Nasir Uddin said incompetent handling of road digging has been making people suffer miserably over the years. “If the work is done during the dry season we suffer from unbearable dust and from mud if it is done during the monsoon.

Vendor Md Hasan of Tibet in Tejgaon said the digging of roads had not only been making pedestrian movement risky but also frustrating their business for the last three months.

Brig Gen Md Ahsanul Huq, chief engineer of Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC), said they had initially decided to permit road digging until April 14 but the deadline was later extended to June 30 for some of the utility agencies.

“However, despite repeated official reminders, some agencies are digging up roads even after the deadline,” he said.

On repairing the Tejgaon-Gulshan link road, he said they could not restore the road as Wasa had not completed their work at several junctions.

The repairing of roads was taking time because the agencies concerned defying rules filled up the trenches with mud instead of sand, he said, adding that an agency had filled up the trenches on roads in Kafrul and Mirpur areas with mud.

“Asphalt cannot be used on mud-filled surface as it will lead to subsidence,” he said.

Saidur Rahman, executive engineer of DNCC, said Dhaka Wasa filled the dug-up portions of Kalyanpur-Mazar road via Technical and the road from Mirpur-1 intersection to Kalyanpur with soil.

Taqsem A Khan, managing director of Dhaka Wasa, ruled out the allegation saying, "It is a lame excuse that the trenches were not filled up according to rules. They [the city corporation] could have informed us or asked for extra money if the filling-up was not done properly.”

Repair works are also pending on Rokeya Sarani, at Shyamoli, Sobhanbagh, Technical roundabout and near Bangla College.

Wasa dug up Darrusalam Road, stretching from Mirpur-1 to Technical roundabout, about six months ago to lay storm sewer line and completed the work including filling-up of the trench, within three months. The road still lies unattended.

About the delay in repairing the roads from Technical to Kalyanpur and Mirpur-1, Saidur Rahman said Wasa had dug up more roads than it was permitted.

Wasa dug the Technical roundabout-Russell Square, Tibet- National Shooting Club, and Rampura-Malibagh roads to lay water pipeline.

Tasqem said they had completed works on the roads much ahead of schedule, but the city corporation instead of repairing those left the roads in a sorry condition.

Wasa had also dug many roads in Uttara, including road-9 in sector-4, last year but the city corporation took a year to repair those.

The Power Grid Company of Bangladesh Ltd (PGCB) has been installing underground electric cable lines from Bhasantek to Agargaon through Mirpur, Agargaon to Satmasjid Road and from Kalyanpur to Agargaon since 2010. The work is supposed to be complete by mid-2013. They, however, stopped the work for the monsoon.

PGCB Managing Director Md Jamal Ullah said they had filled the dug up portion of the roads with sand. They had conducted a joint survey with the city corporation on the dug-up sites in June and found it had been done complying with the rules, he added.