Patuakhali town still gets flooded for 'poor' construction of dyke
Regular flooding in Patuakhali town during high tides continues as before as newly constructed sluice gates, outlets and inlets under Patuakhali Town Protection Embankment Project miserably fail to prevent tidal water from entering the town due to alleged irregularities in the work, right, one of the faulty outlets.Photo: STAR
Patuakhali Town Protection Embankment Project has made no difference to the townspeople as most areas the district headquarters are still regularly flooded during the high tides. Locals blamed 'massive irregularities' in construction works under the project as the main cause behind the situation. High officials of Water Development Board (WDB) who visited the area on Saturday also admitted 'some irregularities' in this regard. Lohalia and Lawkathi rivers flow by the east and north sides of Patuakhali town where most areas are flooded during high tides, especially during full moon and new moon. To protect the town from tidal surges WDB took Patuakhali Town Protection Embankment Project at a cost of Tk 24.52 crore in 2007-2008 fiscal year. The project is scheduled to complete in June 2012. "The project includes construction of six sluice gates, nine culverts, 17 outlets, 25 inlets, 250 metres of flood wall, four bathing ghats, 1200-metre main embankment and raising the height of 950-metre embankment. Constructions of sluice gates, culverts, outlets, inlets, flood wall and bathing ghats have already been completed," said Siddiqur Rahman, executive engineer for Patuakhali WDB. Locals, however, said tidal water still enters the town through the badly constructed sluice gates, culverts, inlets and outlets and consequently, roads, houses and business establishments in large areas of the town are flooded. On August 30, local people submitted a written complaint in this regard to the director general (DG) of WDB. Several copies of the complaint narrating irregularities in the construction works under the project were also sent to higher authorities concerned including the minister, the state minister and the secretary of water resources ministry. Puran Bazar, Nababpara, Chawk Bazar, Muslim Para, Kathpatti, Shimulbagh, Natunbazar, Charpara, Girls School Road, Government Women's College Road, SDO Road, Government Jubilee School Road, Thanapara, New Market, Munsefpara, Latif School Road and Sabujbagh are some of the worst affected areas due to the frequent flooding. Following instructions by the WDB DG, chief engineer Md Mahtab Uddin accompanied by departmental high officials visited the area on Saturday to prepare a report on the matter. When the team reached the spot over 100 local people brought out a procession demanding action against the irregularities in the construction works. "We detected some irregularities that occurred due to lack of proper supervision by local officials. We asked them to remove the irregularities," Md Nazrul Islam, superintendent engineer for Barisal division, told local journalists during the visit.
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