Massive erosion of rivers in Padma, Brahmaputra, Dhorola, Teesta, and Dudhkumar has made thousands of families homeless in Rajbari and Kurigram, with sufficient measures yet to be taken by authorities.
With a recent rise in water levels, erosion of the Padma River has taken a turn for the worse, rendering around 1,400 families of seven villages in the Pangsha and Goalondo upazilas of Rajbari homeless.
In the last few days, vast areas of arable land, at least 1,400 residences, parts of the LGED road, educational institutes, mosques and others establishments have been devoured due to erosion of the Padma River.
Sources at the Water Development Board (WDB) said Padma waters began swelling after receding over the last seven days, with strong currents causing the erosion.
Our Rajbari correspondent recently visited various unions in Goalondo and Pangsha upazilas and found people living in miserable conditions under the open sky or makeshift houses. The locals had an acute shortage of drinking water due to a lack of tube-wells, while hygiene was also a concern as there were limited toilet facilities.
Anser Ali and Felu Mandal, residents of Sajpur village who were forced to take shelter on a nearby embankment, said they had been living in poor conditions in makeshift houses with their families for a week. Assistance or relief is yet to arrive from the local UP chairman or members, they claimed.
Abdul Karim, another victim from Char Habaspur, said riverbank erosion has made at least seventy families in the village homeless in the last ten days.
Mofizul Islam, of Delundi village, said a large number of people have already left their homesteads to take shelter at relatives’ homes in nearby villages or along the river banks of Goalondo upazila.
Mohammad Ator Ali Sarder, Chairman of Debogram union, said the river devoured a large number of homesteads in the union. “We have informed the authorities about the matter, but to no effect,” he said.
Executive Engineer at Rajbari WDB, Mohammad Abdul Awoal, said a letter has been sent to the higher authorities, seeking funds to cope with the situation.
On August 20, local officials accompanied Rajbari-1 lawmaker Kazi Keramat Ali to inspect the eroded sites, but no relief materials were distributed among the people in distress.
Meanwhile, Kurigram residents are facing similar woes from the Brahmaputra, Dhorola, Teesta, and Dudhkumar rivers, with large areas of arable land and many homesteads being devoured by the waters.
Our Kurigram correspondent visited the remote Borobhita area in Fulbari and found that the Tk50m Pashchim Dhaniram residential project- which provided housing to 180 destitute families- was washed away by the eroding Dhorola River. The families are now living in distressful conditions on the nearby embankment.
Shahina, 30, who used to live at the residential project, said “The erosion of the project forced us to take shelter on the embankment. We fear that the embankment itself will collapse. Where are we to go?”
Sources said the 5-acre Pashchim Dhaniram residential project was carried out by the Local Government Engineering Department in 2008, rehabilitating 180 families in 18 barracks.
Meanwhile, the Tk7.2m three-story Pashchim Dhoniram Community Center, which also provides flood shelter, is itself under threat of being destroyed by the Dhorola River at any moment.
Fulbari Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Sheikh Mohammad Belayet Hossain said around 90 percent of the residential project had already been claimed by riverbank erosion, with the community center also facing threat of being washed away. Reports on the issue have been sent to higher authorities and further measures will be taken once they reply, the UNO added.
