In its rejoinder, the ministry denied the state minister's role in protecting corrupt officials of Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Ltd (TGTDCL) and said some statements and comments in the report are not factual.

The ministry says two contracts for the two pipeline projects were awarded upon due approval by the TGTDCL Board, Petrobangla Board and, finally, Cabinet Committee on Purchase, and upon due approval by the Ecnec of the revised Project Proforma as per existing rules and regulations. "Therefore, the mention of doubling the project cost in collusion with contractor as reported in your newspaper is not based upon facts."

It adds, the estimated amount for procurement of goods and construction was Tk 8643.60 lakh.

"During scrutiny by Titas Board it was found that there was an error in the original estimates and it was ultimately corrected as Tk 9190 lakh," the rejoinder states. Therefore, Titas Board constituted a committee to inquire into the estimates of the project cost. The committee submitted its report to the energy secretary, also chairman of Titas Board, who had initiated the inquiry, it mentioned.

"The decision on this inquiry had no relation with the state minister. Even the file concerned did not go up to the state minister. So, the question of the state minister's protection of corrupt officials and his inaction against them cannot be raised at all."

The rejoinder insisted that the pipelines are being constructed mechanically as specified in the contract. "The pipelines are being laid under due supervision of site engineer and experienced staff and the progress of work is being monitored daily by Titas Gas engineers," it claimed.

It added there is no report of pipe fracture to Titas from any source. The photograph shows a smaller diameter pipeline with RCC coating is being laid manually in a marshy low-lying site and this does not reflect the whole situation at the construction sites. Dredgers will be taken to the river-crossing sites as per the contract.

Our reply: Our story described how the Titas Board misled all approving authorities by falsifying the estimates involving the costs of construction and purchase of goods. The rejoinder itself states, "During scrutiny by Titas Board it was found that there was an error in the original estimates and it was ultimately corrected as Tk 9190 lakh".

The rejoinder did not mention that the 'scrutiny' found this small 'error' after approval by all the authorities concerned. It deliberately chose to use the combined costs of purchase of goods and construction instead of giving the breakdowns.

Our story gave the breakdown of these two costs. The original approved estimate puts construction cost at Tk 27 crore (plus 10 percent contingency cost) and goods purchase cost at Tk 57 crore. After the small error was corrected, the revised estimate puts construction cost at Tk 57 crore (plus 10 percent contingency cost) and goods purchase cost at Tk 31 crore. And the ministry does not see the anything wrong in it?

The state minister sought to show he had no links to the investigation report although he played an active role in the contract awarding. He told The Daily Star, "It's true that I did not allow re-tendering because it would have increased the project cost further."

The Daily Star also reported that there is no supervision of the construction works in general. Since there is no supervision, there is no complaint to Titas. It pointed out the issue and put the photograph as evidence.

Before claiming that everything is being done as per contract, the ministry itself should investigate the whole work.