Dyke burst adds to their miseries
9 Aila-hit villages flooded in Khulna
Five hours into the completion, Patakhali embankment in Koira upazila of Khulna district collapsed under the pressure of strong current of Shibsha River on Sunday afternoon.
Over 20,000 people of nine Aila-hit villages in South Bedkashi union under Koira upazila have remained marooned as saline water flooded the area.
One person was seriously injured as solid chunks of earth hit him during the collapse.
Messers Mizan Enterprise, owned by Monirul Huq, son of former local lawmaker Awami League leader Nurul Huq, constructed the embankment at a cost of Tk 2 crore 6 lakh 25 thousand.
"The embankment collapsed shortly after its construction as it was done by an inexperienced contractor," said Koira upazila Chairman GM Mohsin Reza.
Md Aliuzzaman, Water Development Board (WDB) section officer in charge of Koira upazila, said the contractor did not use proper materials for embankment construction.
"Of course, army men supervised construction work of this embankment," he added.
Chairman of affected South Bedkashi union Shamsur Rahman said fraudulence of the contractor and negligence in monitoring by WDB men are responsible for the collapse.
Contractor Monirul Huq could not be contacted for his opinion about the embankment collapse as his cell phone was found off despite several attempts since Sunday.
Meanwhile, a spokesman of the army claimed that all the embankments damaged by cyclone Aila in Kamarkhola and Sutarkhali unions under Dakope upazila in Khulna district have been constructed properly and it will enable over a lakh people to go back to their homes from makeshift camps.
The WDB invited tenders for construction of seven damaged embankments in worst-hit Kamarkhola and Sutarkhali unions at a cost of Tk 50 crore 69 lakh.
The work began under supervision of the army on November 7 last year and it was fully completed on Sunday, sources said.
"Strict supervision by the army and monitoring of construction works by Food Minister Dr Abdur Razzak, Water Resources Minister Ramesh Chandra Sen and several government high-ups during their recent visits largely contributed to completion of sustainable embankments in Dakope upazila," said lawmaker Nani Gopal Mandol.
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