Flood water washes away large chunk of Teesta embankment

25 August 2009, 17:00 PM

Star National Desk

Workers of Water Development Board dumping sand bangs on the breached portion of Teesta embankment at Holdibari point of Jaldhaka upazila in Nilphamari district yesterday. Photo: STAR

With breach of embankment and inundation of fresh areas, flood situation in Nilphamari and Gaibandha districts have worsened further. Four thousand people in four villages of Jaldhaka upazila have become marooned as 1,000-metre area of the Teesta embankment at Holdibari point was washed away on Monday, reports our Nilphamari correspondent. Two other cross dams in the area have also been damaged, worsening the situation. All the belongings of the people living on the damaged portion of the embankment have been washed away as they did not get any time to shift them. The affected villages are Holdibari, Dauabari, Gopaljhar and Char Bharat. “With breach in the embankment at Holdibari point in Golmunda union on Monday morning, water began to enter the villages. Within 3-4 hours, the breach spread to 1000 metre area,” Golmunda union parishad Chairman Mominur Rahman said. Newly transplanted Amon paddy fields of about 1,000 hectares have gone under waist-deep water and fishes of 50 ponds have been washed away. The affected people, who have taken shelter on the intact part of the embankment, are passing their days amid great miseries while no relief materials reached the area till Tuesday noon. Visiting the spot on Tuesday noon, this correspondent found that men employed by Bangladesh Water Development Board Authority were throwing compact concrete blocks and sand bags and erecting bamboo fences in the damaged area of the embankment. Our Gaibandha correspondent reports: Floodwater submerged more areas in Gobindaganj upazila as the Karotoa River is still flowing above danger marks. Traffic movement on Gobindaganj-Dinajpur road has remained suspended since Saturday afternoon as large potholes appeared in two-kilometre area that is under knee to waist deep water at Khalshi and Tarafmanu. Three more unions in Sunderganj upazila have been flooded by water streaming through 200-metre breach in the flood control embankment at Dakkhin Shabajpur. Gobindagnaj Upazila Chairman Abul Kalam Azad distributed dry food among flood victims who took shelter in different schools. Water from overflowing Teesta River has submerged seven of the nine wards in Haripur union, said union parishad Chairman Mozharul Islam. At least 20,000 people have been marooned in six flood-affected unions of Palashbari upazila, said Palashbari upazila Chairman AKM Moksud Chowdhury. Cracks have developed at many points of Karotoa flood control embankment and it may collapse at any time, he added.