Meghna embankment collapses again in Kamalnagar; Panic in the area

Lakshmipur: The embankment of the Meghna River at Kamalnagar in Lakshmipur has collapsed three times in the last one month. Due to this, the dam collapsed 8 times in the last one year. The collapse of the dam after a few days has caused panic among the locals. The affected residents alleged that this is happening because the construction of the dam is of low quality and the second phase of the work has not started.
On Sunday (August 12) night in Kamalnagar Matabbar Hat area, 100 meters on the north side of point 3 of Tirraksha Dam, 100 meters on the south side of points 9 and 10, and about 200 meters collapsed overnight. A team including executive engineer of Laxmipur Water Development Board visited the site on Monday (August 13) afternoon. Before this, a 50-meter collapse occurred on the north side of the dam last Thursday (August 2) at noon. In the early morning of July 15, about two hundred meters of the southern part of the dam collapsed.
Locals said that due to the non-starting of the second phase of the dam, the area on both sides of the dam is continuously breaking. 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 poor quality work through irregularities. A human chain was formed on July 24 in protest of Anayim and the demand of construction of another 8 km dam to protect Kamalnagar.
Project in-charge of the contracting company Western Engineering. Afshar said, about 200 meters of dam was damaged by the tide and strong current at night. After the incident, necessary measures were taken to protect the dam. Dumping of geo bags (special bags filled with sand) continues.
Mohammad Musa, executive engineer of Laxmipur Water Development Board, said that char has risen near the under-construction dam. Due to which the course of water has changed. Some parts of the embankment collapsed due to high tide. The matter has been reported to higher authorities. I visited the scene. Work is underway to prevent the collapse. One kilometer of embankment is not enough to prevent erosion. If the second phase work does not start, it will become difficult to protect the dam. A Development Project Proposal (DPP) has been sent to the Ministry for the construction of another 15 km dam to prevent erosion.
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, under the supervision of the army, the 19 Engineering Construction Battalion started construction of a dam to prevent erosion in 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. Local residents made human chains at various times to protest the irregularities and demand proper work.