Although it's still too early to assess flood damage, swelling of rivers in south and south-eastern region of Bangladesh has wreaked havoc by way of destroying their croplands, paddy seedbeds, fish farming and hearths and homes. Gushing water has ravaged villages as embankments built on rivers with earth and sub-standard materials have been breached at many points.
As reports have it, embankments have collapsed one after another allowing swirling waters to cause huge damages. Even the victims, rendered destitute by the floods, could not take shelter on river embankments as in most places these have caved in. Overflowing rivers and their currents are strong enough to cause breaches in these embankments. A FE report on Tuesday said, river embankments in many areas of Cox's Bazar, Feni, Chittagong, Noakhali and Barguna districts were breached and gushing water inundated fresh areas even in case of moderate rainfall.
Hundreds of thousands of marooned people have blamed poor construction of river embankments for their plight and have made an urgent call to the authorities to take immediate measures to reconstruct the damaged embankments before the villages go under water.
Field reports are disquieting. The flood situation turned for the worst in Patharghata upazila under Barguna district where new areas were flooded due to collapse of all river embankments in the upazila, making 0.3 million people marooned. The Patharghata Upazila Chairman said 800 metres of embankment in the Boleshwar river at Kathaltoli in Parighata union were washed away.
More than 700 metres of the Padma Beribadh on the Boleshwar river collapsed, while 600 metres at Tathal Baria area, and 400-500 metres of the Bishkhali river dam in Jintala, Kalmegha and Dakkhin Patharghata were completely breached. The Upazila Chairman said around 1.0 kilometre of dam in the Bishkhali river at Ruhita point in the Sadar union have been washed away and the area is now vulnerable to claim human lives as it did last year.
Confirming damage of river embankments, the Upazila Nirbari Officer (UNO) of Patharghata said the embankments were 14 to 16 years old. Tide flow has worsened the flood situation and the UNO sent a message to the deputy commissioner's office describing the situation. The situation remained almost the same in other upazilas like Pekua, Chakaria, Teknaf, Moheshkhali and Sadar under Cox's Bazar district. The UNO of Ramu in Cox's Bazar district said nearly half kilometre area of the Bakkhali river embankment suddenly broke down at Laskor Para point under Fatekharkul union parishad.
What is really mysterious is the fact that these embankments did not face onslaught of river currents in the last five or six years and remained as these were as there was no flood. But then why did embankments have breaches here and there this year? Keen observers attribute such a dismal condition of embankments to human misdeeds like its faulty construction with sub-standard materials and weak soil, illegal setting up of shops and markets making the soil vulnerable to give in. There is none to supervise these embankments as the Water Development Board (WDB), which is tasked with this responsibility, stands as a mere mute witness to such vulnerability.
While experts have blamed design or construction flaws for breaches in flood protection barriers, locals have accused the WDB of not carrying out essential repairs for long. In some areas, the violent current of the rising rivers removed concrete blocks or sand bags under the embankment. Once the rain-swollen Jamuna, pushing heavily against its banks, started eating into the Sirajganj town protection embankment. About 600 feet along the 'hard point' of the embankment at Shashan Goila Ghat area, just two kilometres away from the district township, began rupturing at an alarming rate. Assisted by the local administration, the WDB employees and locals dumped sand-filled bags and concrete blocks to reinforce the embankment and stop further wear.
Two researchers MZ Hossain and T Sakai of the Department of Agricultural and Civil Engineering Graduate School of Bioresources, Mie University of Japan have examined embankments in Bangladesh and found out the rot. They said the present method of building embankments in Bangladesh, requiring huge amount of money for its construction and repair every year, has failed to solve the flood problem effectively and permanently. Rather it has brought many other new problems.
The embankments have not only increased the siltation on the floodplains and river beds but also created a risky situation for the inhabitants inside the boundary of these barriers. The researchers suggested proper design and construction method of embankments to control and minimise the extent of flood hazards in the long run.
Experts, however, have suggested a new technique for alternative construction of embankments and planning to control and mitigate flood on a long-term basis. The basic premise of this technique is that the embankments either be fully reinforced or the surface protected by some means so that it would be durable against rain splash and water current. Use of solid wastes, recycled materials and soil-cement or their combination can be a significant step in this direction. The disposal of solid wastes and recycled materials has become a major problem in Bangladesh. Proper use of these solid wastes and recycled materials may help construct not only quality embankments at considerable savings but also solve some environmental problems.
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Preventing collapse of river embankments
Rahman Jahangir | Published: August 08, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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