Panchagarh people demand resumption of abandoned oil mine

RANGPUR, Apr 10: The oil mine at Shalbahan under Tentulia upazila in Panchagarh district has been remaining abandoned for years.

According to sources during 1986-87, a petroleum development company discovered the oil mine. The experts of the company confirmed the existence of a huge stocks of oil about nine hundred metres below the layer of soil and submitted their survey reports to the government.

The head of the then government, on getting final reports on the mine, inaugurated its extraction work on April 10, 1988. The government also allocated Tk 350 million (35 crore) for execution of the project.

A foreign petroleum company under an agreement with the Bangladesh government switched on excavation of wells and traced presence of oil feasible for its extraction on commercial basis from about 8,000 feet below the layer of soil. The company after ascertaining existence of a huge quantity of oil stocks signed another agreement with the government and geared up extraction in full swing.

But surprisingly, a few days later the company left the site one night taking back their entire operation materials without informing anybody of the administration, sources said. The company also sealed mouths of all wells which they dug for lifting oil, sources added.

The people of Panchagarh district as well as northern region of the country strongly demanded that the government should resume work of this abandoned oil mine to meet the country's oil requirements.

Ansar-VDP’s acceleration for  

development urged

A BSS report says: The Ansar-VDP members have been contributing significantly in accelerating socioeconomic uplift and establishing peace in the society through rooting out social crimes, speakers said Tuesday.

They were addressing the launching ceremony of a five-week technical training course for Ansar-VDP members on 'Repairing and maintenance of mobile phone sets' at Mahiganj Regional Vocational Training Centre of the organisation here in the city.