Sirajul Islam Shishir:

At least 70 meters stretch of River Protection Dam at Meghai area in Kazipur upazila of Sirajganj district collapsed into the Jamuna river due to strong current in the riverbed.

As a result, panic has been created among the local residents.

Locals said, “If the main structure of the dam collapses, several villages and localities will be inundated with the water of Jamuna River. Consequently, many homesteads and crops in the area may be damaged.”

It is learnt that, the sudden collapse at the Meghai part of the River Protection Embankment in Kazipur upazila of the district was noticed by the locals on Saturday evening.

On information, higher officials including Ariful Islam, Superintendent Engineer (SE) of the office of Water Development Board’s Operation and Maintenance (O & M) Division in Bogura Circle and Mokhlesur Rahman, Executive Engineer of the WDB in Sirajganj visited the spot on Sunday. To prevent the erosion and protect the locality from devastation of the Jamuna river, the WDB officials with the assistance of local residents and under supervision of Army personnel started throwing sand sacks along with Geo-textile on the affected portion. But, the dumping work was hampered slightly due to strong current of the river, the officials said.

The dumping work going on under supervision of Army. Photo: TDS

WDB sources said, the embankment was built in a span of time from 2013 to 2017 at a cost of Tk 480 crore with the aim to protect the local residents and croplands along with their properties from the river erosion. But, the embankment becomes vulnerable this year due to recent floods and strong current of the river. Due to removal of soil from the beneath of the base or ground level, such erosion has been created at the spot.

Md Mokhlesur Rahman, Executive Engineer of WDB in Sirajganj told ‘The Daily Sky’ that, “Sudden collapse was found on Saturday evening. It is apprehended that, such erosion has been created due to removal of soil from the main base of the embankment. Meanwhile, 70 meters of the embankment have been devoured by the river Jamuna. We however, protect the rest part by dumping sand sacks along with Geo-textile. There is nothing for further panic. As the dumping work is going on under supervision of Army, there is no scope of negligence in the work. The situation has already come under control. We are expecting that, we will be able to protect the rest part by our restlessly efforts.”