River erosion worsens in eight districts

Rivers are rapidly eroding houses, schools and farmlands in Kurigram, Lalmonirhat and several other districts.

Many people are losing their homes and belongings in a matter of hours.

As flood waters are receding in the two districts, the Brahmaputra, the Teesta, the Dharla, the Dudhkumar and the Gangadhar are eroding the banks in at least 60 places.

At least 280 homes, three schools and a college have been washed away in Kurigram while in Lalmonirhat, at least 20 homesteads have disappeared into the rivers over the past week, according to officials of Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB).

Besides, vast farmlands and over 500 homesteads are in immediate threat of being wiped out, they added.

"My house and three bighas of arable land have been washed away by the Teesta. I am living on the road now, and I have to start over from scratch," said Hajera Bewa, 65, a resident of Bajra village of Ulipur upazila in Kurigram.

In Lalmonirhat, 40-year-old Shukcharan Barman said, "Maybe 100 houses and my entire village are gone.  But the Dharla is still eroding the banks."

The BWDB said they were putting sandbags on the banks to curb erosion while relief and rehabilitation officers said they were preparing a list of the affected people.

In Tangail, locals said the Jamuna washed away over 100 houses in Chituliapara and Patnipara areas of Bhuapur.

The villagers demonstrated blocking roads for effective measures to stop the erosion.

"My house was washed away three days ago. I don't want handouts. I want an embankment that lasts," said Zilkod Hossain, a resident of Chituliapara.

Local BWDB official Sazzad Hossain said, "We have already started putting sandbags to prevent erosion. We informed our higher authorities to construct a permanent dam there."

In Sirajganj, the Jamuna washed away a major chunk of an embankment in Kazipur upazila early in the morning yesterday.

Several government facilities may get eroded unless the sandbags and concrete blocks stop erosion in Kazipur, said locals and government officials.

The Surma and the Kushiyara are eroding properties in Sylhet, Moulvibazar, Sunamganj and Habiganj.

"We are working on a mega plan for ending river erosion in this region," said Khushi Mohon Sarker, additional chief engineer at BWDB in Sylhet.

[Our correspondents from Lalmonirhat, Tangail, Pabna and Sylhet contributed to this report]