River dams are collapsing

More areas in the country's south and southeastern districts are likely to be flooded again due to collapse of many river dams there in the last 24 hours ending at 6:00pm Tuesday, officials and public representatives said.

They said river dams in many parts of Cox's Bazar, Feni, Chittagong, Noakhali and Barguna districts were breached since Monday evening and gushing water will inundate fresh areas even in case of moderate rainfall. Added to this is likely onrush of rainwater from the hills.

Blaming poorly-constructed river dams,  people's representatives have made an urgent call to the authorities to take immediate measures to reconstruct the damaged dams before any village goes under water.

They were also critical over the ongoing distribution of relief materials, saying that these were too insufficient to help a large portion of the affected people.

The flood situation turned for the worse in Patharghata upazila under Barguna district where new areas were flooded due to collapse of all river dams in the upazila on the day, making 0.3 million people marooned.

Talking to the FE, Patharghata Upazila Chairman Md Rafiqul Islam Ripon said 800 metres of river dam in the Boleshwar river at Kathaltoli in Parighata union were washed away early Tuesday.

More than 700 metres of the Padma Beribadh of the Boleshwar river collapsed on the same day, 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.

"The government should immediately declare a state of emergency in the upazila to protect the area from massive damage," he added.

Confirming damage of river dams, Upazila Nirbari Officer (UNO) of Patharghata Mohammad Shakhawat Hossain Sarker said the dams were 14 to 16 years old. "Tide flow worsens the flood situation here and we sent the message to the deputy commissioner's office for more relief for the people," he said.  

The situation remained almost the same in other upazilas like Pekua, Chakaria, Teknaf, Moheshkhali and Sadar under Cox's Bazar district.

When contacted, Upazila Nirbari Officer (UNO) of Ramu in Cox's Bazar district Masud Hossain said nearly half kilometre area of the Bakkhali river dam suddenly broke down at Laskor Para point under Fatekharkul union parishad in the morning.

"It (the collapse) already inundated many croplands there and hundreds of homes are under the threat of inundation if there is any further rainfall," he said, adding that the condition of many other river dams in the upazila is weak and these may collapse.

The UNO also claimed to have distributed adequate relief materials among the flood-affected people.

Rejecting the claim, Fatekharkul Union Parishad Chairman Sirajul Islam Bhotto said he received only 3.0 tonnes of rice against 7,000 flood-hit families. "If I distribute 10 kilograms of rice to each family, I can cover only 300 families. The claim of enough relief is illogical," he said.

The UP chairman further said most of the river dams in the area were constructed poorly. "If the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) does not take immediate measures to protect those, the flood situation will go beyond the control," he said expressing his deep concern.

Pekua Upazila Chairman Shefayet Aziz Raju said many villages were submerged by flood water following breaches in at least 10 locations in the river dam in the upazila over the last 24 hours ending at 6:00pm Tuesday.

He said onrush of hill waters from Ali Kadam and Lama areas have been increasing the water level in the Matamuhuri river that led to breakdown of the dam at Barmartek, Teilkata, Puroityakhali, Kakpara under Mognama Union, Sharatghuna, Uttarpara and Tekpara under Ujantia Union.

He also urged the government to urgently rebuild the damaged dams instead of giving inadequate relief which they cannot distribute among even 30 per cent of the marooned people.

Meanwhile, the Swandip Upazila in Chittagong has become vulnerable to tide-flow as three kilometres of the Pourashava and more than 500 metres of the coastal protection dam have been seriously affected by the recent flood.

Local representatives claimed that the coastal protection dam in Swandip has been damaged severely, posing a threat to more than 0.15 million people.

Upazila Chairman of Swandip Master Shahjahan told the FE that the Beribadh work was not done according to the design which is causing the damage.

He said tide-flow might cause collapse of vast areas of the dam anytime.

The concerned authority should immediately take the matter seriously and start work to protect the dams or it would take only three or four days for collapse of the coastal dam, the Upazila Chairman said.  

When contacted, executive engineer of the Water Development Board, Chittagong Swapan Kumar Barua said the work for building the dam could not be finished due to lack of allocation in FY'15.

He told the FE over phone that the BWDB has got allocation for the rest of the work in the current financial year which will start in next few weeks.   

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