Sand lifting from embankment intensifies erosion at Sarishabari

SARISHABARI, JAMALPUR, Jan 18: The erosion has intensified in Sarishabari Upazila of the district due to sand lifting from the area of river protection embankment here.
The river protection embankment  beside Tarakandi-Bhuapur Highway has already been broken.
The untimely erosion has created panic among the people in different villages of the upazila. They are in fear of flooding in several villages.
According to sources at Water Development Board (WDB) in Jamalpur, the construction of 16.55 km long embankment ranging from Futani Bazar in Dewanganj Upazila to Pingna Union of Sarishabari Upazila  was completed at Tk  455 crore. It began in 2010 and ended in 2017.
Later, this embankment was extended by 2.5 km in order to protect some more villages from the erosion. The construction of this extended part is going on.
In the completed part of the embankment, dredgers  have been installed, and sand is being lifted in an unplanned way. Due to this sand lifting, there has been a deadly collapse in about 16 metre CC block area.   
Locals feared the embankment might be eroded entirely in the next flood, and several villages might also be washed away.
Ex-chairman and freedom fighter (FF) KM Sanwar Hossain Sana, FF Rafiqul Islam, and others said, beside the embankment, sand lifting is going on with dredgers. As a result, the embankment has collapsed. If it is not repaired before the next rainy season, the nearby villages might be vanished.
In this connection, an application has been forwarded to the WDB for an urgent repairing of the embankment.
Executive Engineer of the WDB in Jamalpur Abu Sayed said, probably the erosion has been caused due to sand lifting. WDB officials will check it, and necessary measures will be taken accordingly, he added.