DT e-Paper 29 March 2017
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2<br />
WEDNESDAY, MARCH <strong>29</strong>, <strong>2017</strong><br />
<strong>DT</strong><br />
News<br />
The perils of mega projects<br />
• Mahadi Al Hasnat<br />
Land grabbers continue to pile misery upon Santals<br />
• Adil Sakhawat<br />
Dwijen Tudu who was blinded<br />
in the left eye during the attack<br />
on Santals in Gaibandha last November<br />
came to Dhaka to speak<br />
at a public hearing yesterday even<br />
though he and his wife were both<br />
threatened not to attend.<br />
He spoke about the inaction of<br />
local lawmakers and the Chairman<br />
of Shapmara Union Parisad at the<br />
public hearing on the violation of<br />
human rights of indigenous people<br />
organised by the Institute for<br />
Environment and Development at<br />
CBCB Centre.<br />
Speaking on how their land was<br />
being taken by land grabbers, he<br />
said: “We are still being threatened<br />
to not return, even today when we<br />
Poor condition of the drainage system in Malibagh’s DIT Road often results in water stagnation without any rain, as seen<br />
yesterday afternoon. Such a condition becomes a matter of concern as open manholes and deep potholes remain submerged<br />
and unnoticed by commuters, increasing the chances of fatal accidents<br />
RAJIB DHAR<br />
MAJOR CONSTRUCTION SITE ACCIDENTS<br />
The Bahaddarhat Flyover accident<br />
in Chittagong occurred on 24<br />
November 2012 when steel<br />
girders collapsed, killing at least 12<br />
people.<br />
Rabbi Ahmed Emon, a construction<br />
worker of the Moghbazar-Mouchak<br />
flyover, suffered multiple injuries<br />
when an iron rod fell on his head at<br />
Most of the mega development<br />
projects the government has implemented<br />
or is working on put people<br />
and construction workers at grave<br />
risk due to a lack of proper safety<br />
measures.<br />
Despite the <strong>March</strong> 13 death of<br />
a worker in a girder collapse of the<br />
much-hyped under-construction<br />
Moghbazar-Mouchak flyover in<br />
Malibagh rail gate area, safety issues<br />
in construction sites continue to remain<br />
neglected. Two others were<br />
also badly injured in the accident.<br />
During some recent visits to such<br />
construction sites, including the<br />
flyover’s Malibagh part and Mirpur<br />
where work on the metro-rail<br />
project is under way, workers were<br />
found discharging their duties with<br />
little safety gears.<br />
Though most of them were wearing<br />
helmets, not all of them were<br />
seen using special boots and retro-reflective<br />
vests, masks and even<br />
gloves, mandatory for such work.<br />
There is even no fence around<br />
the construction site of the flyover,<br />
leaving vehicles and pedestrians in<br />
danger of serious casualty. However,<br />
there are some enclosures at the<br />
metro-rail project site.<br />
An accident can very easily be<br />
triggered by a falling brick, a broken<br />
bamboo panel or scrawny metallic<br />
pieces, with such risk increasing<br />
manifold at night.<br />
There is hardly any signboard<br />
or cautionary signals at the sites to<br />
warn people to remain vigilant.<br />
Such risky construction sites are<br />
a gross violation of the Dhaka Metropolitan<br />
Building (Construction,<br />
Development, Protection and Removal)<br />
Rules of 2008 which has stipulated<br />
necessary safety measures in<br />
and around any construction site.<br />
According to the rules, it is a must<br />
to set up temporary barriers and alternative<br />
roads to ensure the safety<br />
of the people.<br />
The workers are operating heavy<br />
machines in dusty and toxic environments,<br />
further exposing themselves<br />
to health hazards.<br />
“Our employer has provided us<br />
with some helmets, anti-slip footwear<br />
and protective vest etc, but<br />
they are inadequate,” a construction<br />
worker at the flyover told the Dhaka<br />
Tribune, requesting anonymity.<br />
“We are yet to get protective<br />
masks, special glasses and first aid<br />
were coming to attend the programme<br />
we were warned.<br />
“No one has been arrested for<br />
the attack even though it has been<br />
four months. We demand the government<br />
let us return to our land<br />
and build permanent homes for us<br />
there.”<br />
The indigenous people from<br />
Pahan, Santals and Oraon spoke of<br />
the continuous harassment they<br />
faced with false cases being filed<br />
in their names, which they say is a<br />
ploy by Bangalis to grab their lands.<br />
They demanded these allegations<br />
be properly investigated by<br />
NGOS and the government.<br />
It has been four months since<br />
the attacks happened and a lot of<br />
Santals are still homeless and living<br />
in desperate conditions.<br />
work on <strong>March</strong> 16 last year. Afterwards,<br />
he succumbed to his injures<br />
at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.<br />
SM Piyal Ahmed, a private job<br />
holder, sustained injuries in his<br />
head as construction materials fell<br />
on him from the under-construction<br />
flyover in front of Fortune<br />
Shopping Mall at Mouchak crossing<br />
facilities at the construction yard,”<br />
he added.<br />
When contacted, the construction<br />
firm Toma Group’s Chairman<br />
and Managing Director Ataur Rahman<br />
Bhuiya Manik, responsible for<br />
the Moghbazar-Mouchak flyover,<br />
claimed to have taken all necessary<br />
safety measures for the workers.<br />
He instead accused the workers<br />
of not being accustomed to using<br />
the safety tools.<br />
“The accident was merely an<br />
accident despite all sorts of safety<br />
on December 22, 2016.<br />
On April 4 in 2015, construction<br />
workers Asaduzzaman, 18, his<br />
brother Majedul, 16, and several<br />
others, including Majur Hossain,<br />
were working at the flyover near<br />
Moghbazar crossing. Suddenly, a<br />
bus ploughed through them, killing<br />
both the siblings on the spot.<br />
“We are continuously being harassed<br />
by the police with these false<br />
cases being filed against us. We are<br />
so scared that our children do not<br />
leave the house, not even to go to<br />
school,” said Olivia Hembrom at<br />
the hearing.<br />
Three indigenous people were<br />
killed and seven people disappeared<br />
during the attack on the<br />
indigenous people in Gobindaganj<br />
of Gaibandha district on November<br />
6, 2016.<br />
Even though so much time has<br />
passed no progress has been made<br />
by the government, the speakers at<br />
the public hearing said.<br />
Uzzal Pahan from Akkelpur<br />
upazila of Joypurhat lost his uncle<br />
Mohonlal Pahan in August last<br />
year. He was killed by land grabbers.<br />
“The only reason I lost my uncle<br />
is because the land grabbers lost<br />
the false case they filed against us<br />
and they took revenge by killing<br />
him,” Uzzal alleged.<br />
“They also attacked our home,”<br />
he added.<br />
The hearing was full of people<br />
saying the practice of land grabbers<br />
filing false cases was rampant.<br />
“There is a huge financial burden<br />
that comes with having to hire<br />
a lawyer and going to court. At this<br />
rate, we are going to be left landless<br />
and destitute,” said Robisoy from<br />
Nawabganj, Rajshahi.<br />
Bicitra Tikri of Chapainawabganj<br />
lamented on the extent of<br />
their rights being violated, having<br />
been raped by land grabbers when<br />
measures,” Manik claimed.<br />
Passersby and locals suggested<br />
more precaution and a safety campaign<br />
at Malibagh rail-crossing area<br />
since scores of trains run along the<br />
route every day.<br />
Abul Hashem, gatekeeper of<br />
Malibagh level crossing, said another<br />
girder had fallen on the ground at<br />
the same of the <strong>March</strong> 13 accident,<br />
recently. Luckily, nobody was injured<br />
then.<br />
Terming negligence of safety<br />
precaution by construction companies<br />
a key reason for accidents,<br />
Buet’s Professor Shamim Z Basunia<br />
said: “This is not a problem at Malibagh-Mouchak<br />
flyover alone. The<br />
reality is that the safety issues have<br />
always been neglected by the construction<br />
companies in the country.”<br />
He also raised questions over<br />
safety measures at the Padma Bridge<br />
construction site, another mega project,<br />
where people visit whimsically,<br />
caring very little about own safety.<br />
“Safety measures for the workers<br />
and the pedestrians are never<br />
ensured in these projects areas”, he<br />
observed.<br />
The Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development<br />
Project, the official name<br />
of the metro rail scheme, stretching<br />
from Uttara to Motijheel, was undertaken<br />
for a safe, fast, affordable and<br />
modern means of public transportation<br />
to reduce the perennial traffic<br />
congestion in Dhaka and environmental<br />
pollution. But, the project is<br />
itself causing environmental degradation<br />
since construction equipment<br />
and materials are left lying around<br />
defying relevant law.<br />
People walking by the site were<br />
seen wearing masks to protect<br />
themselves from dust.<br />
At the Shewrapara area, roads<br />
were excavated haphazardly and<br />
that too without proper fencing,<br />
adding to the woes of the commuters<br />
and locals.<br />
When this reporter asked a labourer<br />
about the situation, he said<br />
they were told to mount the soil beside<br />
the road after digging.<br />
The project director, Md Mofazzel<br />
Hossain said: “We have a<br />
safety guideline provided by Jica to<br />
ensure necessary safety measures<br />
around the construction site and we<br />
will try our best to ensure hundred<br />
percent public security.”<br />
Nevertheless, the main construction<br />
of the project will begin by November,<br />
he stated. •<br />
she tried to get her deceased husband’s<br />
land.<br />
“The government is blind to<br />
the level of harassment the indigenous<br />
people are subjected to. They<br />
should form a land commission for<br />
the indigenous community,” she<br />
said, adding that the government’s<br />
inaction has been nothing short of<br />
frustrating.<br />
After hearing all these allegations<br />
Srijoni Tripura, a Supreme<br />
Court lawyer, urged the government<br />
to take separate initiatives to<br />
stop the human rights violation of<br />
indigenous people.<br />
She also suggested lawmakers<br />
be stripped of their position if<br />
found guilty of being involved<br />
in land grabbing of indigenous<br />
people. •