UNB, Khulna :
The flood control embankment covering three coastal upazilas-Koyra, Dakope and Paikgachha-of the district is now in a very flimsy state for want of repair.
With the monsoon approaching, the embankment lies under the risk of collapse at any moment due to pressure of flood water or tidal surge from the nearby rivers causing inundation in vast areas. Sources at the office of the Water Development Board (WDB), Khulna, said about 58 kilometre stretch of the 336 km embankment in the three disaster-prone upazilas remains in dilapidated condition.
Of the vulnerable portion of the dam, 35.74 km is in Koyra while 19 km is in Dakope and 3km in Paikgachha upazila.
Talking to the UNB correspondent, locals said many villages might go under water during the rainy season if the vulnerable points of the embankment are not repaired on an emergency basis.
Holding a section of people responsible for making the dam vulnerable, some WDB officials, on condition of anonymity, said a group of influential people installed pipes in the embankment in Koyra, Dakope and Paikgachha to pump saline water from the river into their shrimp enclosures.
However, they said though the mindless act weakened the dyke, the WDB authorities are yet to take any steps to save the dam from damage.
Apart from that, sources concerned said built in the sixties to protect coastal people from floods and tidal surges, the embankment itself got damaged as natural disasters hit it on many occasions.
When his attention was drawn to the matter, Prof Dr Abdullah Harun who teaches Environmental Sciences at Khulna University suggested immediate repair of the embankment, saying that if it is not done in time, the reconstruction cost will be higher.
Contacted, executive engineer of WDB-2 Mujibur Rahman said they are now carrying out repair works at vulnerable points of the dam under their own finance.
However, he acknowledged that it will not be possible for them to repair the whole embankment before monsoon due to financial constraint and time shortage.
“Reconstruction of the dam will begin in next September under the World Bank’s finance through which the dyke will be made stronger and its height raised,” he said.
Asked about unauthorised installation of water pipes through the dyke, Deputy Assistant Engineer Anwar Hossain of WDB, Dakope, said he got all the pipes removed from the embankment conducting a drive three months back.
He claimed that no pipe remains in the embankment now.
