Thirty-five households went under the riverbed as a dam over Bhodra River in Chadgor area under Khulna’s Dumuriya upazila collapsed during downpour yesterday evening, our Khulna Correspondent reports.
Within seconds, an area spreading up to 250 ft got inundated including seven villages, said Shorafpur Union Parishad Chairman Sheikh Rabiul Islam.
Three households located just beside the dam went under river water. The 35 affected families have taken shelter on another dam built nearby by the Water Development Board (WDB).
The UP Chairman said around 10,000 people have been affected by the collapse. They are residents of the seven villages – Chadgor, Atka, Bahir Akra under Shorafpur union and Sundarsuhol, Kodla, Shombhunagar and Ruitpara under Surkhali union.
The officials of WDB have visited the areas but could not take any prompt steps, he told the Dhaka Tribune.
Hoque Gayeen, a victim, said due to the sudden wave he could not transfer his belongings. Now he was residing under the sky on the dam.
Krishna Gopal Das, an officer of WDB Dumuriya office said: “We are planning over taking steps to protect the dam. I hope steps will be taken soon.”
Dumuriya Upazila Parishad Chairman Ali Monsur said he had visited the spot and allocated Tk3 lakh for repairing the affected dam and protecting other dams from the fund of the upazila parishad.
“The villagers are working voluntarily to cope with the situation,” he said.
Meanwhile, tidal water inundated Dumuria village in Chitalmari upazila as an embankment on the Chitalmari River developed breach on Friday, rendering 200 families homeless.
Nizam Uddin Sheikh, chairman of Chitalmari union parishad, said about 40-foot portion of the embankment on the river has been breached open and the tidal water has submerged about 200 houses at the village.
M Mainuddin, executive engineer of Bangladesh Water Development Board’ s Bagerhat office, told UNB that they have already sent a team to the affected area to do the repair works.
Chitalmari upazila nirbahi officer M Didarul Alam said the administration has taken necessary steps. He assured that the damages in the embankment will be repaired in a very short time.
Meanwhile, due to the incessant rainfall over the last two weeks, about 700-metre embankment at nine points in Rampal, Morelganj, Sharankhola, Chitalmari, Mollahat and Sadar upazilas of the district have been damaged.