Wrong planning damages Tk 1.4 cr rubber dam project in Sherpur

Strong current of the river has also damaged the project office, Ainakuri market, Kangsa Health Complex and several educational institutions in the area. The Ainakuri High School building is now threatened as the soil has been washed away.

LGED (Local Government and Engineering Department) officials in Sherpur seeking anonymity said the destruction has been caused as the dam is being constructed at a wrong site with a wrong plan and design.

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The original plan was to set up a 50-metre rubber dam and construct one kilometre embankments on both sides of the river in the upstream and in the downstream of the dam site.

Instead, a 35-metre rubber dam is being built and construction of embankments have been abandoned, they said. The reduced size has choked the river, increasing its fury this year, they said.

LGED started the Tk 1.40 crore Karagao Rubber Dam Project work in 2003 under a 'Small-holder Agriculture Improvement Project' (SAIP) to provide irrigation to 940 hectares of land in Jinaigati and Shreebardi upazilas.

Once completed, it will also improve road communication in the two upazilas.

The project was scheduled to be completed in May last year but only 45 per cent work was completed till be advent of monsoon this year, the LGED sources claimed.

But much of the work was been washed away by last weeks flood, they said. The loss is yet to be determined, they added.

This correspondent visited the dam site and nearby areas and talked to local people.

Based on the experience about behabiour of the Someswari river, they had suggested construction of the dam one kilometre downstream from where it is being built, but it was ignored, they said.

The Ainakuri High School, Nachonmohuri Dhakil Madrasa, Ainapur Kowmi Madrasa, Ainapur Junior Girls High School, Ainapur Health Complex and Ainapur Bazar are now threatened with erosion, they said.

The locals said lawmaker from the area Mahmudul Haque Rubal, Executive Engineer of Sherpur LGED and Jinaigati upazila Nirbahi Officer visited the spot after the flood but did not say anything.

Former lawmaker from the area, Mohammad Kurram, when contacted, said he along with some elderly people in the area had suggested the authorities to set up a 50-metre rubber dam and construct embankments near it to protect it. The river's behabiour is unpredictable and causes massive damage almost every year, he said. But our suggestion was not accepted, he said.

Mohammad Jamal Hossen, Executive Engineer of LGED in Sherpur, said the rubber dam project was damaged due to strong current of the river. He refused to say anything about alleged change in its design and site selection.