Flood devastates Dahagram, again
A large area of Patgram upazila's Dahagram union, a Bangladeshi enclave surrounded by Indian territory on three sides and the Teesta river on the other, is experiencing severe erosion due to floods.
So far, 300 families lost homes and agricultural land after the Teesta, that enters Bangladesh through Dahagram, suddenly flooded most parts of the union on July 12. Locals said that at around 8:00pm that night, all floodgates of Gajaldoba Barrage in India were opened.
A flood control embankment along the Teesta can only save the farming community from further devastation, said the residents of Dahagram, which is connected with mainland Bangladesh only through the infamous Tin Bigha Corridor.
As the onrush of floodwaters swelled the Teesta and crossed the danger level, the authorities of Teesta Barrage -- constructed to divert water of the river as part of the largest irrigation project in Bangladesh -- were forced to hoist red alert in and around the barrage and opened all its gates on the night of July 12.
Hundreds of inhabitants of Dahagram have taken shelter on high land after the floodwaters toppled over electric poles and washed away roads, farmlands and dwellings.
"I never saw such a flood in the last 30 years... It was beyond my imagination that the Teesta would destroy all my belongings including my house," said Azizul Islam, an elderly resident of Dahagram village.
Another flood victim, Delwar Hossain, 75, said, "We don't want any relief or any assistance for rebuilding our damaged houses from our prime minister; we only want an embankment. It's the only way Dahagram can be saved from disappearing."
Dahagram Union Parishad Chairman Kamal Hossain said the union is getting smaller in area due to recurring floods every year.
Unless effective measures are taken to protect it from the erosion of the Teesta, there may come a time when Dahagram would cease to exist in the map of Bangladesh, he added.
Contacted, Mizanur Rahman, executive engineer of Water Development Board (WDB), said the decision of building a levee along the Teesta to protect Dahagram lies with the high-ups in the government as the union shares its border with a foreign land.
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