Life on the edge of a broken embankment

The  five-kilometre embankment in Musapur union of Sandwip upazila was repaired in 2008. But the union has lost a vast area of its land to the sea due to erosion, since no further renovation work has been done.

Abul Khair Nadim, chairman of the union, said, "In the last 15 years, the embankment has not been renovated. Thousands of people living in coastal areas fear drowning due to high tidal waves during cyclones."

Noruttom Banik, a resident of Maitbanga union of Sandwip, said, "Our union's land has lost fertility due to salt water, for which, crop production here is difficult."

According to the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB), in 1963, a 58km embankment was built in the coastal area of Sandwip upazila under Coastal Embankment Project. Of this, around 17km of the embankment has not been repaired for the past 15 years.

Anis Haider, sub divisional engineer of BWBD, admitted that around 17km of the dyke has not been renovated for many years due to fund crisis.

However, BWDB officials have no official data about the condition of the remaining 33km (approx) of the dyke.

Jahangir Hossain, a resident of Alakdia village in Sitakunda, used to cultivate various types of crops on a half-acre land adjacent to the coastline. However, his land remains uncultivable for the last five years due to the saline water entering from an adjacent dyke.

During a recent visit to Alakdia village, this correspondent found that a large portion of an adjacent dyke has broken down, making way for saline water to enter the area.

Villagers said surging water from the sea washed away parts of the dyke during the flood last year, flooding cropland and dwellings.

Mohiuddin, a farmer of the Kumira union, said, "During the cyclone last year, tidal water entered the locality and the crops on my 2.5 acres of land were destroyed. We are at risk of losing everything as the embankment has not been repaired yet."

Imran Bin Sabur, a resident of the Raipura union of Anwara upazila, warned that huge areas of the union will be flooded through the breached points, which will lead to croplands and homesteads going under water in the coming rainy season.

Abul Khair Nadim, chairman of Musapur union, said, "We appealed to BWDB several times to repair the dyke, but no initiative has been taken as of yet."

Nahiduzzaman Khan, executive engineer of BWDB, said if there is high tide due to cyclones, there is a danger that these dams will break and water will enter the locality.

"We are alert in these danger-prone areas. Geo and synthetic bags are kept ready for immediate response, in case of any untoward incident," he said.

"We already took on a project for constructing a sustainable dyke in Chattogram including Sandwip upazila. Hopefully we will start working on this project after monsoon," he added.