A joint secretary of Water Resources Ministry and six officials of Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) have admitted their negligence of duty in connection with irregularities in building embankments in Haor areas.
Water Resources Ministry Joint Secretary Khalilur Rahman, BWDB Director General Jahangir Kabir, its Additional DG Abdul Hai, Superintendent Engineer Harunur Rashid, Sylhet Superintendent Engineer Md Nurul Islam, Additional Chief Engineer (North-Eastern Zone) Md Abdul Hai and Sunamganj Executive Engineer Md Afsar Uddin admitted their negligence while they were being quizzed at the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) headquarters in Dhaka on Thursday.
Of them, Abdul Hai, Nurul Islam Sarkar and Afsar Uddin were suspended by the government last Tuesday over graft allegations.
Allegations of corruption in building embankments came forth following prolonged inundation of a large number of areas, particularly low-lying paddy fields, in the recent spate of flash floods in the northeastern Haor belt.
On April 13, The ACC formed a committee to look into whether there were any irregularities and corruption in building embankments in the Haor zone.
ACC DG Munir Chowdhury said that the ACC on May 16 last year had asked the BWDB officials concerned to submit in 10 days a report on the widespread allegations of irregularities in the construction of embankments in Haor areas, but to no effect.
“They showed negligence. They did not monitor the things properly. Irregularities took place in the whole process. The officers of BWDB did not carry out the amount of work required for the construction of embankments in Haor areas. They had shied away from duties,” he said.
The ACC had sought more relevant documents from the officials, he added.
Wednesday, June 24, 2026
