News Desk :
At least two dozen river dredging and embankment protection projects aimed at combating floods, ensuring free flow of water and erosion control across the country are set to miss the deadline of this June due to fund crunch, red tape, and mistakes in assessments. The completion of these projects is now uncertain because the government opted for austerity measures against the backdrop of the Covid-19 economic downturn, a top official of Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) said.
Water resources and climate experts said these 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 in the country swell. They observed that the government’s flood management and control activities are apparently losing steam. They stressed the need for carrying out timely restoration of the damaged and faulty embankments, saying delays not only escalate costs but also cause great suffering to the people.
According to a media report, the BWDB is currently implementing more than 100 projects worth Tk 42,868 crore, mainly for riverbank protection, dredging and excavation of rivers and canals. In January last year, long before the floods hit, it had undertaken a Tk 394.47 crore project for dredging and protecting the riverbanks. However, as of this month, the authorities are yet to appoint a contractor due to bureaucratic tangles. Work to protect both banks of the Dharla River in Kurigram from flooding was scheduled to start in March last year. But BWDB floated the tender only recently. Mistakes in assessment by BWDB officials also caused delays in the project to protect the banks of the Ichhamati river in Karnaphuli upazila of Rangamati.
Agriculture Ministry data shows that last year’s floods damaged crops on over 1.58 lakh hectares of land in 37 districts, worth around Tk 1,323 crore, while the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief noted that around 54.5 lakh people in 33 districts were affected. Besides, on an average more than four kilometres of embankments were damaged in 221 unions across the country.
Faulty assessment of water projects is unacceptable. This will create room for corruption and benefit the influential people. We hope the authorities will listen to experts and deal with the issues of improving the navigability of the rivers as well as protecting the riverbank professionally.
