Dharla continues to devour homesteads, croplands
This mosque at Mogholhat village in Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila is on the brink of extinction as Dharla River continues devouring lands in the area. Photo: STAR
At least 80 more families at six villages of Mogholhat union in Lalmonirhat Sadar were rendered homeless by the erosion of Dharla river in the last 24 hours till 2pm yesterday. Dharla at Mogholhat union is now posing threat to more than a thousand other families, local sources said. Earlier 500 families became homeless in the last 5-6 days in the same union. Local administration, even the Water Development Board is yet to take any effective step to check the erosion, locals alleged. Maulana Shaikh Jamal Hossain, 50, imam of a mosque at Badaitari village, said that half of the mosque has been eroded away in the last 24 hours. "The rest may be devoured tonight (Sunday)", he feared. Erosion-hit primary schoolteacher Rezaul Islam, 42, of Bumka village said he had five houses in the village. "Three of them have already gone into the river in the last 24 hours. The other two will meet the same fate anytime," he said. The people at Mogholhat union have been seeking help to save them from Dharla, but none came forward to help us," lamented Moktar Hossain of Kurul village. According to Mogholhat UP chairman Habibur Rahman Habib, immediate step is needed to stop erosion but Water Development Board authorities seem indifferent to it. "More and more families will become homeless while many cultivable lands, orchards will be eroded away by Dharla if we can't check the erosion by today or tomorrow," the UP chairman said. Sub-divisional engineer of Water Development Board in Kurigram zone Probir Kumar Ghosh, however, said that the board has already sanctioned Tk 18 lakh for starting work to check erosion temporarily in Mogholhat area. A tender for the temporary work will be floated on 9 August, he added. "We have already sent a project profile (PP) to the ministry concerned for a fund of Tk 10 crore to conduct construction work aimed at stopping erosion permanently at Mogholhat area. We are yet to get any response," he said.
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