20 villages still under water in Moulvibazar

At least 20 villages are still under water as they were flooded due to collapse of an embankment on the Juri river in the district on Tuesday.

Around 1,000 homesteads were flooded in Juri upazila when fifty feet of the embankment collapsed in Boroitoli area due to surge of water from the hills and heavy rain for the last couple of days.

Several thousand people of the villages in Phultola and Sagornal unions under the upazila have been affected.

Abdul Hakim of Sagornal village urged the government to take immediate steps for repairing the embankment.

Farmer Afsar Ali of Boroitoli village said four bighas of his land with vegetables have gone under water. If the flood water does not recede soon, a huge amount of vegetables will be damaged, Afsar Ali added.

Some residents of the area said erosion started in the area where the embankment broke. Movement on the dirt road above the embankment has become very risky, they said, adding that there were streams of water flowing over the detour.

Whip Shahab Uddin, MP, said over mobile phone that he has talked with officials of Water Development Board (WDB). He assured locals that the embankment would be repaired soon.

Upazila Parishad Vice-chairman Kishore Roy Chowdhury said the collapse of the embankment has affected thousands of families and the authorities concerned should take immediate steps to repair it.

Besides, the roads and seedbeds of the areas have gone under water and fish of around 200 ponds were washed away by the floodwater, he added.

Juri Upazila Parishad Chairman Gulshanara Chowdhury said a huge amount of relief is needed for the affected areas.

WDB Executive Engineer in the district Bijoy Indra Sankar Chakrabarty said they have not got allocation for repairing the embankment as yet.