Around 20,000 people are at risk of losing their homes and lands after the Teesta River suddenly breached the 2000-metre embankment built by locals for protection against flood during rainy seasons in Dimla upazila of Nilphamari.
People of the flood-prone Char Khribari under Tepakhribari union built the dam through day and night of tireless efforts and locally acquired funds back in 2017.
At that time, Nilphamari 1 (Domar-Dimla) MP Aftab Uddin Sarker, Upazila Parishad Chairman Tabibul Islam and social worker Rafiqul Islam among others came forward and donated money from their personal funds necessary for the dam construction.
Apart from that, last year a portion of the dam was upgraded with a fund of Tk4.75 lakh provided by the Local Governance Support Project (LGSP).
Locals say this embankment had proved to be very effective against the flood last year and saved the lives of several thousand families in Char Khribari village.
The embankment, solely built by local efforts, still needed necessary upgrade due to damage every year. However, the lack of additional funds and intervention from the water development board (WDB) left the dam vulnerable.
Although the previous chief engineer of local WDB Atiq Hossain had assured the locals of protecting the embankment and applied for a fund allocation for its renovation, his sudden transfer to Chittagong had dropped a veil of uncertainty over the project.
Tepakhribari Union Parishad Chairman Moynul Hoque said: "With the sudden breach in the embankment on Tuesday, farmers have become vulnerable to flood.
"The water from the upstream has already flooded several farmlands here, mostly cornfields."
"If the embankment is not repaired at the earliest, around 20,000 people in my union will lose their homes and land in the coming rainy season."
The pressing matter was brought to the local water development board’s attention, he added.
Hafizul Hoque, divisional engineer of WDB, said: "As the embankment was constructed by locals, it isn't part of our jurisdictions and we are unable to take prompt actions to repair it.
"However, considering the gravity of the situation with thousands of lives currently at risk, we have taken an initiative to draw up a repair design to send the higher authorities for approval by Sunday."