The body of a man has been found seven days after he was reported missing in the Padma river on August 7.
The body of Al Amin, 27, was found in Meghnarchar, near the Haimchar area of Chandpur district on Monday.
Nine others remain missing in Zajira and Naria upazilas of Shariatpur.
On August 7, a large part of Sadhur Bazar, located near the Padma River, suddenly collapsed around 2pm.
The sudden erosion initially washed away 29 people around a week ago, but 19 among them were rescued later, confirmed by Naria Upazila Nirbahi Officer Sanjida Yasmin and Naria police station OC Aslamuddin.
The missing people are Shahjahan Bepari, 70, Mujibur Rahman Chhoiyal, 45, Gopi Bachhar, 55, Nasir Boyati, 18, Mosharrof Chokdar, 46, Nasir Hawladar, 35, Kamal Uddin Chhoiyal, 62, Antu Mogdom, 15, Abdur Rashid Hawladar, 36.
The wife of a missing person named Mujibur Chhoiyal, Rabeya Begum said: “My husband was a businessman. He was in the area during the sudden erosion. He has been missing since then.”
At least 1,000 people have lost their homes and belongings in the erosion. Many educational institutes along with Upazila Parishad and Upazila Health Complex are at the risk of being washed away by the erosion.
Naria’s municipality Mayor Md Shahidul Islam Babu Rari claimed that about 80% of the houses, in ward 2 and 4 of his municipality have been consumed by the erosion. He also said that it happened because of the negligence of the Water Development Board.
Police and fire service personnel are still searching for the missing people.
Commenting in the matter, DWDB Shariatpur Executive Engineer Md Shafiqul Islam said: “Bangladesh Navy Institute Khulna ship yard has submitted tender for the construction of a stable defense dam surrounding an area of 8.9 km.”
He also said that the construction work will commence after the cabinet has assessed and approved the tender.
The government had allocated Tk1,097 crore to build an embankment from Zajira’s Kundarchar to Naria’s Sureshwar on January 2 this year. However, Water Development Board sources told the Dhaka Tribune that construction of the proposed embankment will not start until the next dry season.
Last year on September 11 at 5am in the morning, three launches anchored in the same area fell victim to the erosion and 16 people went missing. After a few days, two of the dead bodies were found.
