The slow pace of construction work of a 2.75 kilometre-long flood control embankment from Shimla to Bahuka has caused severe concern amongst thousands of people in Sirajganj.
They have now been apprehending that the entire district will be affected by the flood and thousands of people in the district would have to suffer dire consequences, if the construction work is not completed within the stipulated time.
Locals said about 2.9m people at nine upazilas of the district are now passing their days and nights in fear, as a vast track of croplands and many dwelling houses, schools, colleges, madrashas, mosques, temples and government and non-government offices have remained under threat of flood due to there being no flood control embankment.
Water Development Board office sources said earlier the government had built a flood control embankment from Bhatpiary to Bahuka. But the embankment went to the riverbed due to severe erosion in the last few years.
On the basis of their demand, the authorities concerned approved a project, involving at Tk50.4m to construct the embankment along the western bank of the Jamuna under the supervision of WDB in Sirajganj.
The WDB authorities gave the work order to two construction firms namely SRSB Joint Venture, owned by Shamim Ahmed and IHPC Joint Venture, owned by Nazrul Islam.
Awami League leader and former home minister Mohammad Nasim inaugurated the construction work in May last year. There was a directive in the schedule that the work has to be completed by July, 2013.
During a recent visit to the site, our correspondent found that the contractors had halted work midway, centering a difficulty over land acquisition. Therefore, about 50 percent work has still remained unfinished. On the other hand the contractors have been using soil from the Jamuna River to build the flood control embankment, raising questions amongst the people over its longevity.
Locals claimed the contractors were doing this to save money.
Fazlur Rahman, supervision officer of WDB, said the contractors could not work at their site due to barriers from land owners.
The land owners, because they are yet to receive the money from their land acquisition, have been opposing the embankment to be built on their croplands. As a result, the construction work has stalled, he said.
Some land owners said the WDB authorities had taken the initiative to build an embankment on the land without paying compensation.
Nazrul Islam, a contractor of the site, said they could not complete the construction work in time due to lack of funds.
However, they are moving forward borrowing money from banks and relatives. He further said they had taken initiative to pay the compensation money of the victims from their own funds so that they can complete the work before flooding. They would later adjust their bills with the expenditure.
Babul Chandra Shil, executive engineer of WDB, said it would not be the right decision to keep the work in an incomplete state hinting at a lack of funds.
He also said he had written to the higher authorities concerned demanding funds for the work, but to no effect. Consequently, tension is mounting among the people with every passing day, he added.
