The HBRI, falling under the housing ministry, was founded in1960 to research improvements in local construction materials and to invent new methods of construction with affordable prices.

But presently the research activities of HBRI have slowed down due to lack of required funds, as well as a dearth in skilled researchers and modern equipment, a HBRI source said.

Besides these problems, HBRI is now struggling to survive physically, as a vast area of its facility, located in Mirpur, has already been grabbed by locals.

The housing ministry now considers HBRI a completely ineffective body as it has failed to show any significant research activity in recent times.

"Can HBRI show any substantial research work in recent years?" an official of the housing ministry asked, requesting anonymity.

HBRI officials, however, strongly protested such allegations against them, saying the stagnant situation in their research activities has resulted from the government's ignorance.

"Presently a total of 18 researchers are working in the HBRI, whereas 50 researchers are desperately required for better research works," Dr. Akhtar Uddin Ahmed, HBRI's Principal Research Officer, said. He emphasised the need to recruit qualified researchers to the HBRI.

"The HBRI yearly receives a fund of Tk 1.50 crore, which must be increased to Tk 2.50 crore," he added.

Dr Ahmed also pointed out that a committee was formed in 2002 to recommend improvement in the conditions at HBRI. "But the recommendations provided by the committee in 2002 have so far not been implemented," he said.

Even the earlier recommendations for improving the condition of HBRI, submitted by Professor Jamilur Reza Chowdhury and assigned by the housing ministry in 1986, are still pending, he added.

The poor facilities are resulting in brain drain, an HBRI research said on condition of anonymity, describing that many skilled researchers have already left HBRI, which is severely hampering the consistency of the research works.

"It is enough that the researchers of the HBRI still continue different research works with so limited capacity," he mentioned.

The HBRI has to carry on its research activities with backdated equipment, which was collected in the 1970s, the researcher aggrieved.

"Although expected results have not come from the research works of HBRI in recent years, other activities like training on building construction and different building materials testing are going on well," he asserted.

Among other projects, HBRI researchers are presently trying to utilize dust materials produced by a stone mine in Dinajpur district. They have already initially succeeded in inventing a special type of brick by using the dust materials, but it will take more time to get the final result of the research work, researchers said.

The housing ministry, meanwhile, acknowledged HBRI's fund and manpower crisis.

The matter of recruiting new researchers to HBRI is now underway, a housing ministry official appraised.

On the other hand, presently HBRI is facing another alarming problem, as vast areas of HBRI land have already gone to the hands of local influential people.

The HBRI authority said a local organised group has grabbed one fourth of the total land of HBRI and built a good number of slums.

"Ten acres of HBRI land out of a total of 50 acres have already been occupied by the locals because we have no boundary wall," Akhtar Uddin apprised.

"Last year the illegally occupied land of HBRI was restored by evicting the people who resided there, but it did not take much time to grab the land again due to the inaction of police," he added.

The housing ministry source said, however, that HBRI employees are directly involved in encroaching on the land. The HBRI authority denied the accusation.