Onrush of upstream water makes Dhalai River dykes risky

The people of haor areas in Kamalganj upazila of the district have been living in fear for the last few weeks as the onrush of water from upstream in the Dhalai River has washed away many homesteads.

Moulvibazar Water Development Board (WDB) officials said that water level at different points of the river rose yesterday, but was under the danger level. Some of the dykes have started breaking up, said Md Foizur Rob, executive engineer of Moulvibazar WDB.

This correspondent found that many dykes have started breaking up at Mokhabeel, Guler haor, Sreepur, Hiramoti, Shimultola, Katabeel, Adampur, Bongaon, Ghuramara, Najatkuna, Hiramati, Tilakpur, Kamalganj, Chaitannaganj, Alepur, Gopal Nagar, Karimpur, Ujirpur, Kapana Kapon, Ramapasa, Munshibazar Suranandapur and Ubahata villages under the upazila.

Islampur Union Parishad Chairman Abdul Hannan said floodwater has affected 1,000 families in his locality. Eight dykes have collapsed. WDB officials just visited the areas but did not take any action, he added.

Kamalganj Municipality Mayor Jewel Ahmed said six points in the embankment have started to break, and 40 points have become risky. Thousands of families living along the riverside are in fear of losing their croplands and homesteads, he added.

Local Mubarak Ali said villagers used sand filled sacks to protect the dyke, which had been repaired one month ago, but it did not work. They want the authorities to take steps to repair the dyke immediately.

Villagers have to take shelter on the flood protection embankments in the upazila due to the risky situation, locals said.

Foizur Rob said there is no budget for repairing the dykes, and a proposal has been sent to the higher authorities to allocate funds for the purpose. He could not give the number of dykes in the upazila.