Road communication hampered for two months

Vehicular movement on two road-cum-embankments along the Manu river in Kulaura upazila has remained suspended for the last two months, hampering road communication in 45 adjacent villages, claimed locals.

No repair work has been done since 60-metre portion of Hazipur- Kotarkona road near Kotarkona Bazar and 180-metre portion of Kunimara-Tarapasha road near Kawkapon Bazar under Hazipur union of the upazila collapsed due to erosion by the Manu river in the last week of July and first week of August, respectively.

Hazipur Union Parishad (UP) Chairman Abdul Bachhit Bachchu said people of about 45 villages under five unions of the upazila are facing immense sufferings for the last two months because of the embankment collapse, which is now widening.

People of these villages and nearby border area use these two roads to go to the district headquarter in Sylhet, he said.

Locals said, they are paying higher fares for using alternative routes and means of communication.

Joynal Abedin, a resident of Pirerbazar area of Hazipur union, said he now has to pay a fare of Tk 20 to board a bus that runs on an alternative route to go to the union land office from his area.

“Beforehand, I could board a local human hauler for just TK 5 and use the Hazipur- Kotarkona route to go the land office,” he said. 

Grocer Zahiruddin of Kawkapon Bazar, where the Tarapasha-Kunimara road collapsed, told this correspondent that he had to increase price of essentials in his shop because he now brings goods using the Manu river route instead of the road.

“I had to increase the price of sugar by Tk 10 from Tk 40 to cover the increased cost of transportation and risk involved in using the river route,” he said.  

According to local sources, Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) in Moulvibazar had put up bamboo fence and dumped sand sacks on the embankment areas immediately after the collapse to prevent further erosion.

However, the sand sacks and bamboo pillars too were washed away by the river couple of days back, locals said.

Resident of Kotarkona village Ali Hossain said due to heavy rain during the last two months the flood control embankments at Kotarkona got damaged twice.

“We are concerned that more areas will erode in the coming days,” he feared.

Villager of Kawkapon area Sadhon Das said he won’t be able to make a livelihood if the embankment collapses further, eroding away two acres of his cropland.

Farmer Abdus Salek of the village said last year villagers checked the erosion by erecting corrugated tin fence and dumping sand bags.

Hasan Ali of the Hazipur village alleged that erosion became severe because of ruthless sand lifting from the Manu river by a section of local influential people.

BWDB Executive Engineer Ranendra Shankar Chakraborty of Moulvibazar agreed that sand lifting is being done without any regards to the rules thus aggravating erosion.

Badrul Islam, who took lease of a portion of the river near Manu area, however, claimed that he has been lifting sand as per rules.

Meanwhile, the BWDB official said a Tk 1,000 crore development project will soon be proposed to build permanent boundaries around the river embankments which will contain the river in the rainy season.

“We marked 67 points which are at risk of erosion by the river in Sadar, Kulaura and Rajnagar upazilas,” he added.