State Minister for Water Resources Zahid Faruque said a feasibility study is underway to raise height of the coastal embankments throughout the country including Bhola for protecting around 710 kilometers coastline from tidal surge.
“With the support from the World Bank, a feasibility study under a project is now progressing to raise coastal embankments’ height through the coastlines across the country”, the state minister told the journalists on Friday after visiting the erosion-prone area at Ilisha under Sadar uapzila in Bhola.
The height of the coastal embankment will be up to 18 feet for protecting the area from heavy tidal surges during the cyclone – as the coastal zone constitutes 32 percent of the land area and hosts nearly 28 percent of the population, which is nearly 42 million, he added.
The government earlier constructed some 123 polders surrounded by the embankments of 1960’s to protect the coast from tidal flooding and reduce salinity incursion, but over the time these [polders] turn ineffective.
In most of the cases, it is widely reported that costal embankments are being damaged mainly for human habitation on the embankments, and that should be discouraged, the state minister added.
Bhola-2 lawmaker Ali Azam Mukul, Additional Secretary of the Water Resources Ministry Mahmudur Rahman, deputy commissioner of Bhola M Masud Alam Siddique and local Awami League leaders, among others, attended.
The state minister also visited different ongoing projects of the Water Development Board located at Doulatkhan, Borhanuddin, Lalmohon and Charfashion upazilas.
