Erosion victims block road in Lalmonirhat
Demand protection embankment
People of six erosion-prone unions under Hatibandha upazila block Lalmonirhat-Burimari highway in the upazila town for three hours from 11:00am yesterday demanding construction of an embankment on the bank of Teesta River to save them from erosion.Photo: STAR
Several hundred erosion-hit people blocked Lalmonirhat-Burimari highway at Hatibandha upazila town yesterday morning demanding construction of a dyke on the left bank of Teesta river. Over three thousand affected people of six unions of the upazila joined the road blockade programme shouting slogans -- "We don't want relief, we want dyke, we want to live by cultivating crop land" the participants said. The road communication through Lalmonirhat-Burimari highway snapped for three hours during the programme. Several hundred passenger buses, goods-laden trucks and other vehicles remained stranded on both sides of the road. Hatibandha Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Ashrafuzzaman rushed to the spot and talked with the erosion-hit people in the afternoon. The protesters withdrew their programme at about 2:00pm as the UNO assured them of taking effective initiative to materialise their demand. Erosion-hit Abdul Jalil, 52, of Goddimari village said about 2000 families in six unions of Hatibandha upazila have been rendered homeless by the Teesta river erosion in the last three years and several thousand acres of cultivable land have already been gone into the river. But the government is yet to take proper steps to construct an embankment on the left bank of Teesta river at Hatibandha upazila, he said. Victim Bozlar Rahman, 65, of Sindurna village also said the people of Hatibandha several timis placed demand to higher authorities concerned for building a protection dam but to no effect. "Several thousand more families and vast cultivable lands are still under the threat of Teesta river erosion at six unions of Hatibandha upazila. If the dyke is not constructed immediately, those families might become homeless in near future," said Yakub Ali, 55, of Paruliya village. The affected villagers threatened that they will go for tougher programme if their demand is not met within seven days.
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