Ishwardi (Pabna) Correspondent :
Padma River erosion has started suddenly in different areas in Ishwardi Upazila. The erosion has already submerged the char area up to 200 meters in length and 50 meters in width.
Raksha Dam has built at a cost of more than Tk 200 cr in 2017, is now under threat as erosion has started in the calm Padma. The main cause of the erosion was illegal sand mining across a wide area in front of the dam. Residents of the banks of the Padma are terrified by the demolition.
Erosion can be seen in the area affected various points as in the char area in front of the dam because the course of the river has changed. Cracks have also been seen in some places. Panicked locals said that for the last five days, some parts of Sandar Blockpara, Thana Para and Islampara areas have been submerged in the river. About 30 acres of land has been cleared in the demolition.
Locals allege that after the construction of Raksha Dam in 2017, an influential clique illegally extracted sand across a wide area in front of the dam. Although the sand was cut down with the help of vacuum machine and excavator, no administrative initiative was taken.
As a result of sand cutting, the course of the river has changed and erosion has started in the area in front of the dam. This situation has arisen due to unplanned sand eater hauling hundreds of trucks of sand in the area every day. Locals also said that the river bank protection work was defective during the construction of the dam. Blocks and sandbags were not dumped in the river bank as per the rules.
Rafiqul Alam Chowdhury, Executive Engineer of the Water Development Board, said there was no possibility of damage to the dam due to erosion, but cracks had already been found in several parts of the dam. He said dumping has been done as per the rules. The course of the river has also changed a bit due to the rising chars on the other side of the river. He also said that the change in the course of the river was one of the reasons for the illegal extraction of sand across the area.
This is the reason why the current of the river is not flowing directly now and it has changed its course and started eroding in this area. He said that in order to prevent erosion, the current should be changed by dredging across the char area.
Meanwhile, Alhaj Nuruzzaman Biswas, Member of Parliament for Pabna-4 constituency, has urgently visited the erosion area with the officials of Water Development Board. He said that before the construction of the dam, hundreds of bighas of land, houses and crop lands in the area had been washed away by the river. Officials of the Water Development Board should take immediate action so that the people of the area are not harmed.
A large number of locals including Upazila Chairman Bir Muktijoddha Alhaj Naib Ali Biswas, Municipal Mayor Isaac Ali Malitha, Water Development Board Supervising Engineer Mohammad Saifullah and UNO PM Imrul Kayes were present.
