Wares Ali Khan :
‘The tidal water is rising. Everyone, come forward a little again. If you don’t head again, we can no longer be able to protect our dam’- standing on the road a member of the village police was earnestly urging his fellows with a hand mike in Koyra of Khulna while the cyclone Yaas was affecting with a huge tidal surge. Although the local community took initiative to repair the dam, it was difficult to work with the intense flow of water. The picture which was subjected to disclose the impacts of the cyclone Yaas was undoubtedly worrisome. Albeit, the cyclone Yaas did not hit Bangladesh directly; only inundated the large areas of the coast, yet it affected significantly in multiple aspects.
There is no easy way to go back to normalcy for thousands of residents of the coastal region as tidal surges caused by cyclone Yaas left a trail of destruction on their houses, farms, fisheries, and even roads. Embankment breaches and coastal rivers swelled by 1-2 meters invaded many villages flooded homes and washed away the belongings of some of the most underprivileged people of the country.
The flood control dams in the southern part of the country were built in the sixties and are no longer able to protect the lives and property of the people of the region in face of frequent hits of cyclones. Districts like- Cox’s Bazar, Noakhali, Laxmipur, Bhola, Patuakhali, Barguna, Pirojpur, Bagerhat, Satkhira, Khulna, etc. are critically threatened by the tidal water during the cyclones. We have reportedly come to know that the cyclone Yaas had conveyed damages to almost 95 km of coastal embankments. The coastal defenses are now dilapidated and mostly useless as well. It is also unfortunate that the damage that happened during Aila and Sidr has not yet been fully repaired.
Two consecutive natural disasters like floods and cyclones especially during the Covid-19 outbreak have severely disrupted public life. Dam construction plays an important role as a flood control structural solution for the people in the northern regions as well as the coastal areas. Damage to embankments by floods or cyclones can incur huge economic losses and social impairments to the regions. Life and livelihood face many adversities and quandaries there.
Cutting of soil from the dams, free movement of cattle on it, illegal settlements, and indirect use of the embankments in agriculture might hit the longevity and trim down their capacity. So, the concerned local administration has to take stern legal action to stop soil extracting from the dams. Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) along with NGOs in collaboration with the local volunteers should come forward to raise awareness among people regarding dam conservation.
The dams, by and large, are to undergo extreme pressures during floods and cyclones. Henceforth, the Coastal Embedding and the Anti-demolition Development Projects need to be strengthened in a larger margin. In this regard, geotextile bagging and hydraulic structure can be used in the line of modern technology. Besides, the soil of the dams must be compacted and analyzed in respect of quality before use for dam construction.
Climate experts opine that there is a risk of frequent catastrophic cyclones in the future due to climate change. Sea levels rising as well as water surging is anticipated to be higher than before in the next calamities. We also experienced a tidal wave nearly 10-15 feet high during Amphan last year. Existing low-altitude dams, on the whole, fail to cope with tidal waves during cyclones. Therefore, the dams have to be restored and built considering the reality of high tide.
Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB), so far, has not conducted any comprehensive survey in the recent past regarding the holistic improvement of those embankments built earlier. We know, the embankment is regarded as a significant man-made component to play a crucial role in protecting the coast from cyclones. Hence, the concerned quarters should necessarily come up with proper measures in an integrated manner to spend public money only for the public interest, and for the sake of the coastal communities.
Reportedly, two dozen river dredging and embankment protection projects aimed at combating floods, cyclones, and erosion across the country are set to miss the deadline of this June due to fund crunch, red tape, and mistakes in assessments. The projects are crucial to reducing the damage of croplands and displacement of hundreds of thousands of people, a common phenomenon during the monsoon when rivers of the country swell and calamities appear terrible. It seems that the flood management and control activities are losing tempo. Now, it is imperative to carry out the timely restoration of the affected and faulty embankments. Otherwise, the absence of time-befitting right endeavors might escalate costs and cause massive suffering for people further.
(Mr. Khan is an academic).
