Our Correspondent :
Residents of five villages are constructing dams on their own initiative to protect their homes, including cultivable land, from the erosion of the Teesta River at Gangachara in Rangpur. The construction cost of the three and a half kilometer long dam has been estimated at Tk 43 lakh.
The construction work of this dam is going on with the help of volunteers and own funds.In the last two years, including this year, due to the erosion of the river Teesta, the homesteads and cultivable lands of about four hundred families in five villages along the river have been submerged in the riverbed.
Many families have become destitute due to river erosion. In order to overcome this situation and to protect hundreds of acres of cultivable land in the area, the people of the union have taken the initiative to build the dam on their own initiative.
Abdullah Hadi, chairman of the Lottery Union Parishad (UP), said work had started on December 20. In the meantime, soil and sand have been dumped in about three and a quarter kilometers of the three and a half kilometer long dam. The width of the dam is 100 feet at the bottom and 60 feet at the top.
Trees will be planted next to the dam to prevent erosion.Some people involved in the construction of the dam said that local MP Moshiur Rahman, Upazila Chairman Ruhul Amin and UP Chairman have provided financial assistance for the construction of the dam in solidarity with the residents of the area. Residents of different villages also gave money according to their ability.
