Locals demand permanent embankment on Netai river

Residents along the banks of the Netai river in Mymensingh's Dhobaura upazila have expressed concern over possible flooding during the monsoon and demanded the construction of a permanent river protection embankment.

In the absence of a permanent embankment, upstream water from the Meghalaya hills across the border swells the river every monsoon and inundates vast stretches of land along the riverbank, causing extensive damage to crops, fisheries, and infrastructure, they said.

Around 40,000 people live in different villages on the riverside in the upazila. Over the years, many families have been displaced from their lands and had to take shelter in different areas of the upazila and elsewhere, facing flooding, erosion, and loss of livelihoods, they added.

An embankment was built on the river some 25 years ago on a temporary basis but was damaged at different spots over the years, leaving residents of adjacent villages vulnerable to flooding and erosion during the monsoon, said Adil Ahmed, a farmer of Bhuiyanpara village.

"Construction of a sustainable embankment would have resolved the issue, but our longstanding demand keeps getting ignored," he added.

Beauty Akter of the same area echoed the concern.

"Last year, some 30 villages were affected by flood during the monsoon following heavy rainfall and onrush of upstream water from India's Meghalaya, causing extensive damage to Aman paddy, vegetable plantations, and fish farms, while snapping electricity and mobile network for several days," said Abul Hashem, a local journalist.

The problem has continued for decades due to the utter negligence of Bangladesh Water Development Board officials, he alleged.

"The river has devoured my home twice, leaving me destitute. I am now living at a relative's house with nothing else left," said Hasu Mia, 65, of Jigatola village.

Locals said politicians had pledged the construction of a permanent embankment time and again before every national and local election, but none ever kept the promises.

"Late Dr Mohammad Ali, a former lawmaker during BNP's tenure, initiated construction of a 15-kilometre river protection embankment from Bhuiyanpara to Kalsindur Bazar in 1992. However, the project was not completed later on, and the temporary structure got severely damaged over the years to be rendered useless," said Shahjahan Miah, a member of Ghoshgoan union parishad.

"Even if the broken parts of the embankment were repaired every year, the loss to property and agriculture could have been minimised," he added.

Farid Al Razi Komol, former chairman of Ghoshgoan union parishad, said a sustainable and permanent embankment on the river is needed to protect the local people.

"Aman crop on 16,090 hectares of land in the district, including 10,560 hectares in Dhobaura upazila, was damaged during the flood in the monsoon last year," said Nasrin Akter Banu, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension in Mymensingh.

"Fish from some 10,800 enclosures, mostly in Dhobaura and Haluaghat upazilas, were washed away and 6,875 fish farmers faced a total loss of over Tk 50 crore in last year's flood," said Mohammad Nazim Uddin, district fisheries officer.

Nishat Sharmin, upazila nirbahi officer in Dhobaura, said proposals were made at development and coordination meetings at district and upazila levels on several occasions for a sustainable embankment on the Netai river, but no steps have been taken to this end yet.

Denying the allegations of negligence, Akhlaq Ul Jamil, executive engineer of BWDB in Mymensingh, said a feasibility study for a permanent embankment is going on and a Development Project Proposal (DPP) will be submitted to the concerned ministry once the study is completed.

"If the proposal is approved, we would begin work for constructing the embankment," he added.