Erosion renders 500 families homeless in Jamalpur
Army personnel are dumping sand bags into the Jamuna to protect the flood control embankment from onslaught of the river at Radhanagar village under Sarishabari upazila of Jamalpur. The river has already devoured a portion of the dyke.Photo: STAR
Erosion by the River Jamuna took a serious turn, rendering around 500 families homeless at three villages in Sarishabari upazila in the last couple of weeks. The affected villages are Randhanagar, Bashuria and Kablibari villages, said Water Development Board (WDB) sources. Scores of homesteads and more than 60 acres of cropland were devoured by the river, said locals. A flood control embankment at Randhanagar and about 300-metre-long portion of Tarakandi-Bhuapur road are now under the threat of erosion. About 50 metres of the road have partially gone into river water, causing immense sufferings to the villagers. A team of army personnel led by major Reza a few days ago dumped GO bags and CC blocks to protect the embankment and road, said Jamalpur WDB executive engineer Nizamul Haque Bhuiyan. During a recent visit, this correspondent found many villagers leaving their homesteads for safer places in fear of erosion. The erosion hit people are facing acute crisis of drinking water and foods, said Khandakar Motahar Hossain, chairman of Pingna union parishad. Md Abdul Malek, member of the UP, said that the river devoured his 32 bighas of cropland besides the homesteads in the last couple of weeks. Another victim Tara Mia of Radhanagar village said “The river washed away my everything, including homesteads and 11 bighas of cultivable land”. Upazila nirbahi officer Parvez Raihan said at least three bundles of corrugated tin and Tk 7,500 were distributed among each of the affected families.
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