A stitch in time saves nine ...
But officials rarely follow the proverb
This breach in the embankment of Dinajpur main canal in Nilphamari district, meant for irrigation with the water of Teesta River, has remained without any repair for the last two months, thanks to the indifference of authorities.Photo: STAR
A 10metre stretch of the embankment along the Dinajpur canal at Khanabari in Jaldhaka upazila has collapsed. If water from the Teesta is released at full force, a large area of cropland will be submerged. Bangladesh Water Development Board (WDB) officials blame their inactivity on the shortage of funds but locals allege that a section of WDB officials are deliberately letting the situation worsen for drawing extra funds to misappropriate a portion of it. If the damage is not dealt with soon, repairs will keep becoming costlier as the damage worsens with time. The main canal of Teesta irrigation project, connected directly with Teesta River at Dalia, divides into two branch canals at Dundibari point of the district. One of them is the Dinajpur canal covering irrigation of Nilphamari and parts of Dinajpur. The embankments along the Dinajpur canal from Dundibari of Jaldhaka to Chander Hat of Sadar upazila was found damaged at 20 points. Locals say that vehicles of high officials of BWDB frequently run on the observation road beside the canal but no one has visited the site physically till now. Most severely damaged points on the embankments stretching from 5-15 metres have developed cracks and are evident at villages Ramnagar, Purbo Harish Chandra pat, Paschim Harish Chandra pat, Dakkhin Deshibai, Uttor Deshibai, Dhantala, Kathali and Dundibari. The cracks occurred in the past few months and are gradually becoming bigger. Left embankment of the canal on which the observation road of BWDB is constructed to monitor irrigation is in a sorry state even though movement of heavy vehicles is restricted on it. A 1.5metre deep hole in the middle of the road can be seen at Purbo Harish Chandra Pat village. There are many other points with such big holes, which make the road very risky for vehicles. Another matter for concern is of the hollow plastic pipes illegally inserted through the embankments. Some dishonest farmers have inserted these pipes to illegally irrigate or drain their fields. The insertion of pipes has made the canal embankments even more vulnerable and the damaged parts could collapse any moment. Locals alleged that everything is being done before the eyes of WDB authority but no action is ever taken. They also alleged that some dishonest WDB men regularly take money for allowing them to insert the pipes. However, WDB Section Officer of Nilphamari Shahajahan Ali denied the allegation of taking bribes and said, "Steps against inserting pipes is often termed as an anti-farmer move." Executive Engineer of BWDB Nilphamari division Nazir Ahmed said they know about damage of Dinajpur canal embankments at various points but they could not start repair work due to fund crisis. Regarding the illegally inserted pipes, he said that he had directed the officials concerned to take legal action against the people involved.
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