Woes of riverside villagers

Left without any repair after serious damage by super cyclone Sidr on November 15 in 2007, this embankment on the Kacha River in Mathbaria upazila under Pirojpur district cannot save the nearby villages from flooding even during moderate rise in the water level of the river. PHOTO: STAR

Riverside villages in Sadar, Mathbaria, Bhandaria and Nazirpur upazilas under the district see recurrent flooding especially during the rainy season as about 18-kilometre embankments in the four upazilas have remained virtually useless since their damage by super cyclone Sidr on November 15 in 2007.
Local people's repeated appeal for repair of the embankments to the authorities concerned have fallen into deaf ears while natural calamities including cyclones Aila on May 25 in 2009 and Mahasen on May 16 this year added to their misery.
Eight-kilometre embankment from Togra Ferry Terminal to Hularhat in Pirojpur Sadar, 6.6-km embankment in Boro Machhua and Sapleza unions of Mathbaria upazila, two-km embankment in Telikhali union of Bhandaria and 1.5-km embankment in Mathibhanga union of Nazirpur upazila have remained open since the onslaught of Sidr, said sources of Water development board (WDB) in Pirojpur.
As a result, nearby villages are easily flooded even with moderate rise in the water level of the rivers.
"More than one lakh people in my union are affected due to the situation. At least 1.5 km embankment at Bholmara village here need repair on an urgent basis," said Md Abdur Rahman Khan, chairman of Bara Machhua union parishad (UP) in badly affected Mathbaria upazila.
Md Jahangir Hossain, chairman of Sapleza UP in the upazila, has also demanded immediate steps to repair the damaged embankment at Khatachira village in his union.
"Damage of the embankment during Sidr has left us vulnerable to flooding. Cyclone Mahasen in last month damaged large areas of croplands as water entering through the open embankment flooded them," said Abdul Malek, a resident of Bholmara near the Kacha River in Mathbaria upazila.
Ahsan Habib, upazila nirbahi officer of Mathbaria, said the damaged embankments in the upazila need urgent repair to save the people from unbearable sufferings.
Md Bazlur Rashid, executive engineer of WDB in Pirojpur, said, "Although the World Bank had promised to reconstruct the damaged embankment in Mathbaria after Sidr, they have not started the work yet. And we could not reconstruct the embankments due to lack of fund. Lastly we have sent a Tk 38 crore estimate to the higher authorities for the work in the district.”