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Laudable initiative

Villagers make embankment voluntarily along Buri Teesta to save crops from flood

Our Correspondent, Nilphamari
People of Satjan village in Nautara union under Dimla upazila are repairing an embankment along the Buri Teesta river with their own effort and ingenuity as the authorities concerned were indifferent to their requests for repair of the embankment.
A 340-metre-long section of Buri Teesta river's embankment was washed away by the flood in August last year, damaging vast tracts of Aman paddy fields in the village.
Since then, people had been asking Nilphamari Water Development Board (WDB) to repair it on emergency basis in order to save crops during this rainy season as there is every possibility of recurrence of flood, but the departments concerned did not pay any heed.
Finding no other way, villagers joined hands to repair the embankment voluntarily, using their own labour and money, as it is a question of their sur-
vival, said Nurul Huq, 75, former chairman of Nautara union parishad.
They raised money for buying 2,000 bamboos, plastic nets, iron nails and other necessary items, and those who could not give money gave their labour, he added.
Visiting the area on Saturday, this correspondent saw villagers erecting bamboo fences in rows on the river bed, some were fixing plastic nets on the bamboos so that earth from the embankment did not get washed away by the strong current, and some others were carrying earth.
Shamsher Ali Sardar, a local who had knowledge about embankment construction as he worked with WDB contractors in the past, was overseeing the work.
"We erected bamboos and fixed plastic nets on the vulnerable 150 metre section out of 340 metres, and work is on to repair the embankment, "he said.
"Paddy on my four bighas of land was damaged totally last year by the
onrush of water that flowed through the breached embankment and submerged around 300 acres of land in Satjan and adjacent Chawradangi villages," farmer Abul Hossain, 60, said.
"A two-to-three-foot layer of sand was also deposited on the land, ruining soil fertility. We removed the sand to transplant Aman saplings this year," said farmer Hakkul Islam, 65.
Saidul Islam, 45, said paddy on his eight bighas of land was totally damaged in last year's flood. He and his son now pull rickshaw in Dhaka to earn a living, he added.
Nautara Union Parishad Chairman Saiful Islam Lelin said he had helped the villagers' praiseworthy effort with money and asked WDB several times to address the problem.
District WDB Sub-Divisional Engineer Md Hafizur Rahman said over cellphone that an embankment was a necessity and they had sent a project proposal to the higher authorities.