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They want repair of breached embankment, not relief

Tk 4.34 cr project submitted for repair of Bhogai river dam in Nalitabari but funds not yet sanctioned

Jahangir Alam back from Sherpur
NETRAKONA: Ten-year-old Amir Ali was begging on the Nalitabari-Nakugao road at Hatipagar.
He started weeping when this correspondent asked why he is begging.
He said he was a student at Hatipagar Government Primary School. They had croplands and a house, but are pauper now. Bhogai river washed away everything. His sick father can not work.
There are several thousand families affected by flooding and erosion by the Bhogai river.
This correspondent talked to some of the affected people during a visit t the area on Friday. They said they do not want relief. They want reconstruction of the damaged Bhogai river embankment at Hatipagar.
The breach in Bhogai river embankment during last year's flood damaged crops on several lakh acres and covered those with sand sheets. Most of the affected lands in 25 villages in Nalitabari upazila are now uncultivable, they said.
The worst affected villages are Hatipagar, Nayabil, Nama Hatipagar, Andarupara Monupara, Duthkura, Chatkila, Nakugao,
Sitpara and Gobinda Nagar in the upazila.
If the breached dam is not repaired in the current dry season, more areas may be affected in Nalithabari upazila in Sherpur district and Fiulpur and Haluaghat upazilas in Mymensingh, local people and officials told this correspondent.
A Tk 4.34 crore proposal for repair of the 575 metre Bhogai river embankment and reconstruction of 6.25 km Nayabil-Nakugao road has been submitted to the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED).
The Daily Star had published a report on the damage on December 29 last year.
When contacted, Nalithabari Upazila Engineer Ashraful Haque said a 'positive response' was available from higher authorities regarding the project.
But funds are yet to be allocated. "We will begin work as soon as money is sanctioned", he said.
He said lands in Nalitabari are very fertile and so farmers were well to do. But most of them are now in distress due to recurring floods that have also made croplands uncultivable by sand deposit. Sherpur LGED Executive Engineer Mohammad Jamal Hossen said the project proposal was submitted to the Chief Engineer and the response was "good". He said he hopes funds will be allocated soon.
He also admitted that more several thousand acres of land will be affected in Nalithabari, Haluaghat and Fulpur upazilas and more people will be displaced if the embankment is not repaired in the current dry season. IRRI-Boro crops on at least one lakh acres will be
damaged if there is flood this year.
Yunus Ali, Chairman of Nayabil Union in Nalithabari, said people do not want any relief or assistance from the government. They will change their condition if the breached embankment is repaired.
When contact, Jahad Ali Chowdhury, lawmaker from the area, said he is trying his best for reconstruction of the damaged embankment and hopes the work would be done in the current dry season.