Sirajganj town protection embankment went under serious threat at Ghurka area where about a 90-metre chunk collapsed due to further rise of the river Jamuna on Sunday night.
The Jamuna recorded a rise of 1cm at Bahadurabad and 3cm at Serajganj and was flowing 15cm and 6cm above its flood level at the two points respectively on Monday morning.
Bangladesh Water Development Board with the help of the army and local people took some preventive measures throwing concrete blocks and sand-bags to
check erosion.
The gushing Jamuna has caused damages at three different points of the embankment in the last seven days, forcing panicky residents of the area to shift their belongings, local people said.
The WDB Rajshahi zone chief engineer Mohammad Afzal Hossain said the entire embankment may be devoured by the Jamuna and plans should be taken to build the town protection embankment afresh.
‘We have been unable to stop the erosion due to the river’s mysterious trends,’ said Hossain.
The Board’s director general Mohammad Habibur Rahman Jinnah said that BWDB may soon send a proposal to the ministry suggesting to hand over the Sirajganj Town Protection Embankment for protective work to Bangladesh Army.
The 2.5 km long town protection embankment was constructed by Korean Hyundai Company at a cost of Tk 350 crore during 1995-2000.
Although Hyundai had given a 100-year guarantee for the infrastructure, the embankment started collapsing within the first ten years.
Nearly 800-metre parts of the embankment were eroded after 2009 and the BWDB has, so far, spent more than Tk 76 crore for repair works.
Meanwhile, the flood forecasting and warning centre in Dhaka said the Jamuna river is likely to start receding today.
Among other rivers of the country, the Padma was flowing 23cm above flood level at Bhagyakul and 3cm above at Goalundo on Monday morning.
The Ghagot was also recorded to be flowing 11cm above its danger mark at Gaibandha at 6:00am on Monday.
-With New Age input
