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Villagers build 600-ft dyke to stop Dharla erosion

S DlLIP Roy, Lalmonirhat
People of Bumka village in Mogholhat union under Lalmonirhat Sadar upaila have constructed a 600-foot embankment through voluntary work to save their houses and landed property from erosion by the Dharla River.
The embankment will save several thousand houses, many orchards, about two thousand acres of farmland, two primary schools, a madrasa, six mosques, four temples, and the union parishad (UP) office at Bumka, Itapota, Kurul, Bumka, Megharam, Bongram, Bhotiyatari, Kodalkhata and Saprikhana villages in Mogholhat union, locals said.
Tired of waiting for government fund for construction of a protection embankment, the local UP chairman encouraged the villagers to take their own initiative for protecting their lives and assets, they said.
About four hundred erosion hit people both male and female of Bumka village at Mogholhat union started their voluntary service on April 12 and worked tirelessly until completing the embankment yesterday.
"The union parishad collected about four thousand bamboos, two hundred trees and some cash from the villagers during a month-long campaign in the area. The parishad
donated 4,500 sacks worth Tk 1,12,500 and cash of Tk 2,40,000 for bearing the expenditure for six dredgers," said UP member Joymulyo Chandra Roy.
The UP chairman andmem-bers also worked with around 400 villagers to construct the embankment to check erosion byDharlaRiver.hesaid.
"The Dharla devoured my house four times in last seven years. Besides, the river eroded 15 bighas of cultivable land and two orchards. To save my remaining assets — three bighas cultivable land and homestead on 10 decimal land from the threat of river erosion, I joined the dam construction as a volunteer,” said Jasim Uddin, 75, of Bumka village.
Rozina Bewa, 68, of the same village said, "After my husband'sdeathfiveyearsago, I lost house, five bighas of cultivable land and a mango orchard due to erosion by Dharla River. So I joined the volunteer work to construct embankment in the village to protect my last two bighas of cultivable land and homestead fromtheerosion."
Ahmed Ali, 50, a resident of Itapota village, said he donated 40 bamboos to construct the cross dam at Bumka village to check Dharla erosion, as the dam would save his assets from erosion.
Mogholhat UP Chairman Habibur Rahman said, “I submitted applications to
Water Development Board and other government authorities for fund for constructing an embankment at Bumka village last year. Failing to get any response, I encouraged local people to join our initiative and finally succeeded in constructing the embankment to save life and properties of eight villages in Mogholhat union."
"Now the embankment needs protection through using geo-filters and CC block dumping for its strength and longevity. Otherwise it will remain vulnerable to erosion when strong current of Dharla River hits. As geo-filters and CC blocks are costly, we need government help for the
purpose," he said.
Villagers also demanded government initiative to protect the 600-foot embankment and if possible, a permanent protection embankment to save them from recurrent erosion.
Enayet Ullah, executive engineer of Lalmonirhat Water Dvelopment Board, said, "The erosion hit people at Bumka and other villages of the union built the protection embankment through voluntary service to save their life and assets from the river. I will try to take steps to strengthen the embankment after talking with the high officials concerned as soon as possible."