Devastation by Rivers

[Tiki Tam Tam]

Teesta devours 300 ft of Gangachhara dyke

Erosion by the river Teesta took a serious turn at Dhamur point, devouring around 300 feet of Gangachhara embankment in the last four days.

Part of the embankment went into the river during last year's flood, but locals saved it from further collapse by putting sand bags in the breached portion.

Water Development Board (WDB) said rise in water level in the Teesta caused damage to the embankment. “We are dumping sand bags in the damaged portion to protect the embankment from further erosion,” sub-assistant engineer Mahbub Ali said.

Locals alleged that the dyke collapsed as the contractor engaged by Water Development Board (WDB) last year did not repair the breached portion before rainy season. The contractor was waiting for further damage to the embankment so that he could demand more allocation of fund against the work, they said.

Refuting the allegation, contractor Shahadat Hossain said he could not star repair work on the embankment as fund was not available. Shahadat alleged that he did some repair works on the dyke last year, but bill payment has not been made yet

WDB Executive Engineer Anwar Hossain said work order was given to the contractor last year on condition that he would finish the repair work worth Tk 2 crore by March this year.

The contractor did not do the job for not getting the fund for repair of the damaged embankment, the engineer added.

People of Dhamu village also held the officials of Rangpur Water Development Board responsible for collapse of the embankment. They are not at all serious about protection of the embankment from river erosion, the villagers added.
Teesta devours 300 ft of Gangachhara dyke

Erosion Takes Serious Turn in Manikganj

700 families rendered homeless in a week
40 of 80 shelters under Ashrayan project devoured

Erosion by Padma, Jamuna and Dhaleswari has taken a serious turn along 25 villages of eight unions in Harirampur, Daulatpur, Shivalaya and Ghior upazilas in the district rendering around 700 families homeless in the last one week.

Shelters built under of the government Ashrayan Project in Ghior Sadar has lost more than 40 of its 80 structures into the river Dhaleswari while the rest are endangered.

The government erected these steel and tin structures for sheltering the homeless of the area in 2007.

Abdul Halim, resident of a shelter said, "The houses were built quite far from the river. But the river washed away 10 of them last year and more than 30 others this year."

Another resident Mohammad Hossain said, "The upazila officials tried to thwart the erosion by erecting bamboo fence last year but in vain.

"UP chairman, UNO, upazila chairman and local MP all know about it. But they did not take any steps to save the government shelter," he alleged.

Ghior UNO Raza Mohammad Abdul Hye said, "We wrote to the prime minister's office, also to Water Development Board last year, but to no effect."

"We spent Tk one lakh to erect bamboo fence to save the shelters last year. This year we do not have money to do something for the poor people", he added.

Ghior UP chairman Afzal Hossain Khan Joki said that he informed the authorities concerned including local lawmaker ABM Anwarul Haque and deputy commissioner (DC) Munshi Shahabuddin Ahmed of the situation.

"A permanent dam is needed to save the land," he added.

Over 400 houses of 18 villages in five unions of Daulatpur upazila have been devoured by the river Jamuna.

The affected areas are Kashidarampur, Fakir Para, Moslem Mollar Para, Banghutia Puran Para of Baghutia union, Sooboddi, Rehai Sooboddi and Bachamara Uttarkhanda of Bachamara union, Reza Membarer Para, Kamar Para, Kathaltoli, Vote Ghar and Charkatari of Charkatari union, Barotia, Boinya, Abudanga and Jointya of Jionpur union and Ramchandrapur, Kalikabari of Chakmirpur union.

UNO Khodeza Khatun said she made a list of 158 erosion affected families of Bachamara union and sent it to the DC's office and will do the same for the other areas.

"We will take steps if anything sanctioned to help them", she added.

In Harirampur upazila, at least 100 houses of Dhulsura union were washed away by the Padma in the last one week.

Harirampur UNO Apurba Kumar Mandal said, "I wrote to local lawmaker SM Abdul Mannan and executive engineer of Water Development Board to do something for the homeless people and take steps to save the areas from further erosion."

"I am now waiting for reply," he added.

700 families rendered homeless in a week

Erosion by the rivers during the monsoons is a real problem, not only in Bangaldesh but also in Bengal.

So much of money is spent to build embankments, but the fury of the river takes them all.

One wonders if there is any answer.

There should be or else thousand suffer every year and thousands are rendered homeless and their lands washed away and remains only in the patwari's books and nothing on the ground.

 

[Tiki Tam Tam]

Rising rivers, vanishing homesteads

Long term protection measures needed

Erosion of homesteads and croplands, indeed of whole villages, by fast flowing and rising rivers continues to be a major problem in Bangladesh. It is inevitable, especially in the monsoon season, that rising rivers will threaten lives and land. But what cannot be a fait accompli is the idea that erosion by rivers will go on playing havoc with lives year after year. Measures for securing the rivers, especially through the construction of proper embankments and dykes, should have been in place long ago. That we still go for ad hoc steps to hold our rivers back from flowing further inland is a sad commentary on what governments have not done over the decades.

We have just been informed that further erosion by the river Jamuna has been halted at Hard Point of Sirajganj town. That is somewhat a matter of relief. Even so, since the middle of this month, the Jamuna has claimed 175 metres of the town protection embankment. The surprising part of the tale is that the embankment was built in 1997 with a guarantee of a hundred years. Obviously, something has gone wrong with the guarantee and with the embankment, with the result that the administration is now scrambling to arrest the onrush of waters by dumping 24,000 stone blocks and 26,000 sandbags into the river. On the other hand, local people are convinced that funds misappropriation has undermined the protection scheme.

The Jamuna apart, it is now the Teesta and Dharla rivers which have in the past week swallowed up whole homesteads in Lalmonirhat and Kurigram. With 300 families suddenly without homes, it makes sense to ask for long-term, concrete measures toward taming our rivers. When embankments have warded off erosion in places like Europe, there is little reason why we cannot see the same happening in Bangladesh.

Rising rivers, vanishing homesteads

What would be the cost of concrete embankments?

Even those have not been able to stop nature's ways.