Allegations have it that a vested quarter backed by a ruling party man does not want operation of the project for his petty interest.

The project was scheduled to be commissioned in May last year.

Costly appliances including the chemical dosing pump (not available in Bangladesh), two planet boards and a capacitor along with 10 kilograms of water purifying chemicals were stolen on June 16, putting the last nails on the project.

Sources claimed that an organised gang committed the theft on the night of June 16.

Police arrested the night guard but released him allegedly due to political pressure, they claimed.

Severe arsenic contamination of groundwater is a long standing problem in Kolaroa, where the level of arsenic is between .70 (point seven zero) and .50 (point five zero) against the permissible level of .05 (point zero five).

According to the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED), about 96 per cent of the 18,510 tubewells are arsenic affected in the upazila. According to a survey done in 2001, there were 683 arsenicosis patients in the upazila. The number would be more now, PHED officials told this correspondent yesterday.

Residents in the small town on several occasions demanded steps by the municipal authorities to supply safe water but they were helpless due to lack of funds.

The Bogra Rural Development Academy (RDA) came forward with assistance. It gave Tk 18 lakh interest free loan to JESH

Foundation, a local NGO, for a project. The loan is payable in 20 installments in 10 years.

The project included construction of an overhead tank, a water treatment plant, sinking of a deep tube well and laying of PVC pipeline in the town for water supply.

Kalaroa pourasava leased six decimal land to JESH Foundation for 15 years for the project on an annual payment of Tk1500. All work except the pipeline laying work was completed on the leased land.

As per agreement with JESH Foundation, the pourasava authorities would bear the cost of laying the PVC pipe line in the town and get 40 percent of the profit from the project. Pourasava authorities floated a tender for the Tk 5,50,000 PVC pipeline laying work in February last year. Ten firms bid for the work. But the pourasava cancelled the tender allegedly without showing any reason.

It is alleged that the tender was cancelled following political pressure from a ruling party man. But the ruling party man, on contact over cell phone earlier, had denied the allegation.

Since then there has not been any progress in pipeline laying work.

As agitation by the town dwellers mounted, the pourasava in January this year asked the project authorities to supply arsenic free water from the project site to the pourasava premises, with a plan that residents would take safe water from there till pipeline is laid. The NGO complied with this.

But after three days, the pourasava authorities declined to take water from the project and wrote a letter to Bogra RDA for handover of the project to it.

The Bogra RDA refused as it was beyond the agreement, the sources said.

The project authorities then started supply of arsenic-free water to people from its compound. But the supply is stopped after the theft on June 16 night.

Asked about the fate of the project yesterday, Kolaroa Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md. Bashirul Alam said he was took over charge few days back and declined to make any comment without seeing files. The UNO is also the administrator of the municipality.