The BR allocated about one bigha of the lowland to Navana Limited to build the filling station.

Navana has filled up the lowland, through which waste and rainwater from Dhanmondi, Kalabagan, Shahbagh, Moghbazar and Karwan Bazar flow and stream into Begunbari and Hatirjheel.

Rajuk in a letter to the BR on Monday expressed concern over its noncompliance with the Town Improvement Act 1953, the Building Construction Act 1952 and the wetland protection act 2000 in approving the CNG station.

"If any development work is carried out in the capital, Rajuk approval is a must," said a senior official of Rajuk, seeking anonymity.

The letter also reminded that although a meeting at the Prime Minister's Office on September 28 ordered suspension of the CNG station construction, the directive was not followed.

It further mentioned Rajuk's Integrated Land Utilisation Plan does not allow the filling-up of low-lying areas around Tongi Diversion Road.

Rajuk pointed out that an earlier bid to fill up the lowland near Tongi Diversion Road to construct a CNG filling station was stopped following an objection from Rajuk.

BR Joint Director General Nurul Islam Mia told Star City: "I don't know anything about Rajuk's letter. After reviewing it, we will decide on our course of action."

On the violation of the wetland protection act and other acts, he said, "I have no idea about such acts. Bangladesh Railway approved many CNG stations on its land upon an order from the prime minister. If we find the acts prohibiting such an approval, we have to revise our decisions."

"If they (Navana) have filled up the area, it will a take us only a few days to remove sand and restore the area to its previous state. I don't think the removal cost will be too high," Mia said.

"We don't know anything about the wetland protection act. The BR has reached a 15-year agreement with us on building the CNG station. That's why we are going ahead with the project," said Engineer of Navana Limited Ehsan Ahmed.

"The BR has also asked us to build it by six months. It took us two months to fill up the lowland and we will build infrastructure and set up equipment for the CNG station in the next four months," Ahmed said.

The senior Rajuk official feared: "The CNG station may prove disastrous for Hotel Sonargaon and its adjacent areas, as it will block the passage of water in rainy season."