Hunt for contractors on to dredge Buriganga

Bdnews24.com . Dhaka

Dredging work in the River Buriganga is getting delayed for want of qualified contractors.

Water Development Board will float a second tender soon for hiring four contractors for the job, according to officials.

‘We’ve so far selected two qualified firms for two parts of the 23-kilometre river stretch. For the others, we’ll call tenders soon,’ WDB regional chief engineer Sunil Baran Dev Roy told the news agency.

The move was under way in line with the government project to keep the river’s depth at minimum four metres (13 feet) during the dry season, and to curb its pollution.

The part of the Buriganga—from Rustompur to Rayerbazar—was divided into six pats and separate tenders were floated for their dredging.

WDB officials also pointed at the recent dilemma arising over demarcation of the river. The district administration was asked to resolve the issue immediately, they said.

Putting borders on the four rivers around Dhaka, launched last month by a government taskforce, stumbled over protests from different quarters and due to illegal encroachment of most parts of those rivers.

The three other rivers are Turag, Sitalakkhya and Balu.