Tidal surge snaps road link in Galachipa

Road communication between Galachipa upazila headquarters, Patuakhali district town and Baufal and Dashmina upazilas has remained snapped since Tuesday evening as the connecting road was destroyed by tidal surge in Kalaraja area under Galachipa upazila.

Tidal water entered the villages through the broken parts and flooded around six villages. Several hundred acres of Aman paddy fields went under water.

Locals said the Galachipa upazila connecting road was built under Upazila Growth Centre Connecting Project implemented by Local Government Engineering Department around 10 years ago, along with a carpeted road from Kharijjoma village to Galachipa upazila town.

The road links with Baufal and Dashmina upazilas as well as Patuakhali district town, and several hundred vehicles of different types ply it regularly.

Communication through the road was snapped on Tuesday when about 10 feet of the road at Kalaraja area collapsed into the nearby Chiknikandi canal due to pressure of tidal surge in the evening

Tidal water entered through the breach and submerged Majhgram, Uttar Pankhali, Dakkhin Pankhali, Kalaraja, Horidevpur and Kachua villages.

Aman paddy fields went under water and at least 800 people of the villages have been marooned by the tidal water, said Rafiqul Islam, a local farmer of Kalaraja village.

They are worried about cultivating Aman paddy and rearing fish in ponds and ditches as those might be washed away, he added.              

Fish in ponds and ditches went due to flooding of the water bodies, said another farmer Mosharef Hossain.

If the damaged portion is not repaired soon all Aman paddy land will be flooded and the miseries of local people will know no bounds, he said.

Galachipa Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md Tousif Ahmed said they have asked the local union parishad and upazila parishad to repair the damaged parts immediately.