Mohammad Younus Ali, Manikganj

BIDBUTA Aricha dredger office in front of the bank of the Jamuna guarded pipe buoys on Thursday morning in a severe fire caused extensive damage. A large number of valuable pipes made of high-density polyethylene-HDPE were destroyed by the ship conservancy, causing a loss of several crores of taka. However, the number of burnt pipes and the amount of damage is unknown.

It is learnt that foamed polythene covered buoys are used to keep pipes afloat during dredging in riverbeds. A large number of pipes about eight feet high and 16 feet in diameter, brought for dredging in June this year, were left in the wake of the Aricha Old Launch Ghat area. According to the local people, the pipe fire was reported to the nearby Dredger office around 7:30 am on Thursday, but no immediate action was taken.

At this stage of neglect and carelessness of the concerned officials and employees, the fire spread rapidly in the wind blowing from the north. It has been alleged that the fire spread rapidly in the wind blowing from the north at this stage due to the negligence and negligence of the concerned officials and employees. However, the officials denied the allegations.

Dredger unit executive engineer Abu Saeed said that when the fire started around 8:30 in the morning, efforts to bring it under local control failed. He said that this incident is suspected to be sabotage. This representative went to the ground and talked to several officers and employees of the dredging unit and came to know that all these pipes have been lying on the banks of the river for a long time.

It is learnt that foamed polythene covered buoys are used to keep pipes afloat during dredging in riverbeds. A large number of pipes about eight feet high and 16 feet in diameter, brought for dredging in June this year, were left in the wake of the Aricha Old Launch Ghat area. According to the local people, the pipe fire was reported to the nearby Dredger office around 7:30 am on Thursday, but no immediate action was taken.

Abdul Hamid Mia, Deputy Assistant Director of Manikganj Fire Service, said that three units of Shivaloy and Ghior upazilas came to the spot after getting the information at quarter past nine and tried to bring the fire under control for about two hours. Damage is being assessed.