Erosion by Dharla wreaks havoc

Continued erosion by the Dharla river has become a matter of concern for the people of six villages of Mogholhat and Kulaghat unions in Sadar upazila.

The river devoured large areas of croplands, homesteads and orchards in Badaitari, Senpara, Kurul and Karnapur villages of Mogholhat union and Shiberkuti and Dakkhin Shiberkuti villages of Kulaghat union in the last six months.

“Two bighas of our arable land with standing crop have been washed away in the last two weeks.

Our homestead on six decimals of land is under threat of being devoured at anytime. Due to the erosion, we have shifted our homestead eight times in the last five years,” said Sabiha Begum, 45, of Badaitari village.

“I hoped our last four bighas of arable land would be saved from the Dharla river as Water Development Board (WDB) authorities told us the embankment protection work would be started soon, but the land was devoured by the Dharla around one month ago,” said Nasir Uddin, 63, of Senpara village.

“Now I have only eight decimals of homestead land, which is also under risk of being devoured at any time,” he said.  

Proshanto Chandra Sen, 34, of the village, said their arable lands have already gone into the Dharla, and if their homesteads are devoured they will become street people.

He demanded immediate construction of the protection embankment.

Mogholhat Union Parishad (UP) Member Nazrul Islam told this correspondent that WDB authorities told them in October last year that the embankment protection work to check erosion will be started soon, but it has not started yet.

Mogholhat UP Chairman Habibur Rahman said if the WDB does not take steps to check the erosion now, it will be more serious in the coming rainy season.

“Many residents in his union have already been rendered homeless as their homesteads and arable lands were devoured by Dhrala river,” he said, adding that he is in regular contact with the WDB authorities in this regard.

District WDB Executive Engineer Abdullah Al-Mamun said Tk 9.75 crore was allocated for 5,840 metres embankment protection work in the district under Trans-boundary River Embankment Protection and Development-2 project in July 2017, but the work has been delayed as the project is being implemented through Direct Procurement Method system, not Open Tender Procurement.

“WDB officials visited the erosion affected vulnerable spots, but there is no scope for checking erosion temporarily due to lack of funds,” he added.