Dharla devours 300 metres of a road in 24 hours
Dharla devours 300 metres of a road in 24 hours
More than 300 metres of Phulbari road have been devoured by the Dharla River in 24 hours from Saturday morning to yesterday morning at Char Kulaghat village under Kulaghat union of Sadar upazila.
Earlier around 650 meters of the road went into the river in the last few days.
Roads and Highway Department (RHD) and Water Development Board (WDB) were yet to take any steps to save the road, alleged locals.
RHD official sources said that 950 meters road were devoured and of them, 300 meters were devoured in the last 24 hours, 250 meters in the last week of May this year while 400 meters from last week of September to first week of October in 2013.
About 500 meters of the road in the area remain under serious threat of erosion anytime, official sources said.
Locals said, due to the erosion they were facing untold sufferings in their day-to-day communication. Now many of the villagers were using boats, they said.
Due to devouring of the road, the Dharla is also eroding our croplands and orchards, said local farmer Nazrul Islam.
Kulaghat union parishad (UP) chairman Idris Ali said, "I contacted both the two government departments for taking urgent steps to check the erosion and save the road but they only blamed each other and tried to shift responsibility.
Executive Engineer of Water Development Board in Kurigram Abu Taher said, as RHD is supposed to look after Lalmonirhat -- Phulbari road, they should take steps for saving the road. There is no fund in my office at the moment to start any work to check the erosion, he added.
However, Executive Engineer of RHD in Lalmonirhat Suruj Miah said that it was impossible to save the road without checking the river erosion. So, WDB should take steps to stop erosion first, he said.