Faridpur Town: Erosion might jeopardise levee
Erosion of the Padma river in four villages, under North Channel Union of Faridpur Sadar upazila, has taken a serious turn over the last several days.
Unless immediate steps are taken to restrain it, the erosion might threaten the Faridpur town protection embankment as well.
Locals said a Tk 5-crore bridge on a canal, in Goldangi area of the union, is only 500 yards away from the affected area and the bridge may be devoured by the river any time in the next few days.
Goldangi resident Latif Gazi said between Wednesday and Friday, a landmass stretch of 1,000 metres along the river on the northern side of the Goldangi bridge has already gone into the river.
Sultan Mahamud, executive engineer of Water Development Board (WDB) in Faridpur, said the embankment for the protection of Faridpur town is now under high risk due to the erosion in the area. "We will take steps soon to stop the erosion."
The DG of WDB has been informed of the situation while the deputy commissioner (DC) of Faridpur already had discussions with the chairman of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority over a possible measure of conducting dredging in the river, he also said.
North Channel Union Parishad Chairman Mohammad Moshtaquzzman said the erosion started with the rise in water level of the Padma over the last four days.
Different areas in four villages of the union have been affected and so far, one house and two acres of cropland have been washed away, he also said.
Faridpur DC Atul Sarker and WDB Executive Engineer in Faridpur Sultan Mahamud already visited the affected area.
WDB officials said a process was underway to dump a thousand of sand-filled geotextile bags along the affected bank and increase navigability by carrying out dredging in the river.
Chunnu Sikdar, a resident of Kaimuddin Matabbar Dangi village, said since last Wednesday he was hearing about some steps to be taken soon to protect the area, but he did not yet see any activity along the bank till Friday.
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