SYLHET. Dec 11: Their hopes hang in balance for decades.

Once mighty River Piain has now turned into a curse for about eight lakh people of the region. Though a number of plans and programmes had been taken by the government agencies and departments during the three decades, nothing effective has yet been done. It has resulted in flooding of a huge area almost every year.

It has also caused siltation to a vast tracts of land on both the sides. Extraction of stones from the river beds during the season is also declining alarmingly.

The rivers — Piain and Dho-lai flow through Companyganj thana in Sylhet. Originated from the Meghalaya hills in India. the River Piain enters into the Bangladesh territory near Ohmghat and joins with the

Surma near Chhatak through Gowainghat and Companyganj thanas. On the other hand, the Dholai being originated from the Khashia hill near Bhola-ganj border and joins with the Piain. The Piain having a length of 34 miles had a depth of 25 to 30 metres even 50 years ago. But, the river has lost its previous navigability due to the large-scale siltation at different points.

The biggest stone quarry of the country is at Bholaganj on the riverbed of Dholai. It crores of taka is being earned as revenue every year. Huge quantity of stones across the country are being supplied. There are some other quarries in the region. About 40,000 to 50,000 labourers are engaged in collection of stones from these quarries. The stones roll down from the upper stream during the monsoon.

Once big water vessels used to ply in the river. But water transportation is being greatly hampered due to the siltation. which has caused an alarming situation in the whole region. Besides, almost every year, vast areas in Companyganj. Gowainghat. Sylhet Sadar and Chhatak thanas face frequent and seasonal floods causing large-scale damage to crops and lands as well as to other property. The River Piain has changed its course in at least four points — Rataner khal. Pabltrer Dhala. Lamna Khal and at Telikhal. Huge number of dwelling houses and croplands had also been devoured. Besides, accumulation of two to three feet silts on both banks of the river and other small canals linked to it have also turned thousands of hectares of cropland uncultivable every

year.

In the mid-fifties, the then member of Provincial Assembly late Mokbul Hossain proposed to the government for resolving the problems relating to the Plain river. President Er-shad visited the Piain river and asked the concerned authority for taking necessary steps in 1985.

The officials of Water Development Board (WDB) prepared a Tk 40.43 crore project in two phases in July 1986 and it had been sent to the higher authority. In 1993. the board prepared a revised plan for the Piain River Flood Control Project'. PCP of the project was made showing an estimated expenditure amounting to Taka. 46.24 crore. But no development was made as yet. The government itself has been incurring huge loss of revenue. Besides, the

people have also been suffering extremely due to the delay in implementing the project, focal leaders feel.

Fishery in the region isbe-ing hit seriously. On the other hand small haors and marshy lands are turning into plain lands due to the siltation. Due to fall in navigability, trans-Kition of stones is also being pered.

The BDR Out Post and the Khashia punii (organised homesteads) at Sangram border in Gowainghat thana had already been devoured in 1988.

Local leaders of different political parties have demanded necessary steps for dredging in the river. But these gave no response from the concerned people, they allege. They hoped that, crops worth about Taka 200 crore could be saved by

checking erosion and siltation. It was stated in the PCP that, property worth over Taka 600 crore would be saved through proper implementation of the project, they asserted.

When contacted, an official of the WDB said that, the project was prepared several times, but it could not be implemented due to shortage of funds. He. however, informed that, considering the importance, the revised project has recently been included in the 'National Desllta-tion Programme', which had chosen some very important rivers through out the country.

Recently, a team of experts from the consultant firm conducted a field survey in the project area of Companyganj thana, he added. Feasibility study of the whole project is already in the concluding stage, official said.