Around 70 villages in Borguna went under water because of the high tide and rainwater. The villages had also gone underwater during the last full moon since the river embankment, which was constructed by the Water Development Board, was critically damaged at that time.
Although the locals repaired the embankment by themselves after the last full moon, it was not enough to save the villages from the high tide.
Enayet Chaprashi, a villager from Baliyatoli, told the Dhaka Tribune that the embankment got damaged every rainy season as it had not been properly repaired since cyclone Sidr in 2008. Locals repaired the embankment after the high tide from the last full moon, he said.
“Only Allah knows when the reformation of the embankment will be completed,” he exclaimed.
Locals said most of the residences and arable lands at these 70 villages went underwater, adding that around 20,000 villagers were marooned because of the incident. According to the records of Borguna Water Development Board, water was flowing 33cm above the danger level in different rivers of the district, while 77ml rainfall was recorded over 24 hours since 9am on Tuesday.
Executive Engineer Abdul Malek of the Water Development Board said he was aware of the situation and was trying to get emergency funds for the reformation of the embankment. It was not possible to reform the embankment without the emergency funds, he added.
