Erosion by Arialkha River has taken an alarming turn in Shibchar upazila of Madaripur, devouring around 150 metres of the embankment for flood protection near the Dhaka-Khulna Highway in the last 48 hours.
Erosion for the last three days gulped two portions of the embankment, posing serious threat to major thoroughfares of the district.
The 1.5-km embankment, which stretches 1.5 kilometres, from Shetu Guide dam to ferry terminal was built to protect the Dhaka-Khulna Highway.
Earlier, part of the embankment got damaged in 2007, but the authorities saved it from further collapse by repairing several points of it with a cost of Tk60m. Shahidul Talukder, a victim of erosion in the area, said the river grasped many of his crop land.
He expressed concern that it might reach the Dhaka-Khulna Highway in the near future, as the erosion has been gradually intensifying, according to banglanews. Another inhabitant, Halim Mridha said: “Thousands of trucks ply the road daily. If the embankment goes under water, people of the southern part of the country cannot communicate with Dhaka.”
Md Kabiruddin, executive engineer of Madaripur Roads and Highway Department, and Md Moniruzzaman, executive engineer of Water Development Board, visited the spot on Sunday and declared the area ‘risky’.
The highway is under major threat now as the embankment is currently submerged.
The river is only 150-200 metres away from the main road, said Md Kabiruddin.
Md Maniruzzaman said they had informed the matter to the authorities concerned.
