In Lakshmipur's Kamalnagar, after 15 days, Meghna River's embankment has collapsed again. Due to this, the dam collapsed 7 times in the last one year. This has created panic among the people.
On Thursday (August 2) afternoon, a 50-meter collapse occurred on the northern side of the under-construction bank embankment in Matabbar Hat area of Kamalnagar. There is panic among the locals due to another collapse. Before this, on the morning of July 15, about two hundred meters of the southern part of the dam collapsed.
Due to non-commencement of the second phase, the dam is continuously breaking in the areas on both sides. The dam has collapsed due to erosion in the surrounding area. The dam collapsed five times in the last monsoon season as well. Locals have been complaining for a long time that the dam is collapsing again and again due to low quality work through irregularities. A human chain was formed on July 24 to protest Anayim and to build another 8 km dam to protect Kamalnagar.
Project in-charge of the contracting company Western Engineering. Afshar said that char has risen near the dam under construction. Due to which the course of water has changed. The 30m embankment on the northern side collapsed due to the strong tide. Dumping of geo bags (special bags filled with sand) continues to prevent collapse.
Mohammad Musa, executive engineer of Laxmipur Water Development Board, said that renovation work is being done immediately after the dam collapse. One kilometer of embankment is not enough to prevent erosion. A Development Project Proposal (DPP) has been sent to the ministry for the construction of another 15 km dam. A meeting is scheduled to be held in the ministry on Sunday. The issue of dam construction and erosion prevention will be presented in that meeting.
Incidentally, in 2014, the government allocated Tk 198 crore for the Meghna river bank protection dam. One kilometer dam in Kamalnagar, three and a half kilometers in Alexander in Ramgatti and one kilometer dam in Ramgatirhat Machghat area should be constructed with the allocated money. On February 1, 2015, the 19 Engineering Construction Battalion, under the supervision of the Army, started construction of a dam to prevent erosion in the Alexander area and successfully implemented three and a half kilometers. Meanwhile, Narayanganj Dockyard Engineering Ltd. got one kilometer work in Kamalnagar with Tk 48 crore of that allocation. In early 2016, two years after the allocation of funds, the company started working with Western Engineering.
That year, the work was stopped due to the pressure of the locals as the work was started with low quality sand and geo bags. At that time, the local residents made a human chain to protest against the irregularities and to work properly.
