Two national highways threatened by Karatoa erosion in Gaibandha
Dhaka-Rangpur and Dhaka-Dinajpur highways only few yards from erosion points
Erosion by Karatoa river at Tarafmanu in Gobindaganj upazila in Gaibandha district now threatens Dinajpur-Dhaka highway. WDB erected bamboo spars at the point to stop the erosion but those were washed away.Photo: STAR
Two national highways connecting Rangpur and Dinajpur with the capital are threatened due to massive erosion by Karatoa river about three kilometers off Gobindaganj upazila headquarters. The river has taken a U shape there within a span of three kilometers there. The Dinajpur-Dhaka road is only about 10 yards from the erosion point at Tarafmanu while the Rangpur-Dhaka road runs only a few yards off the river at Hawakhana. The road links may be snapped any moment due to erosion, locals told this correspondent during a visit to the areas on Sunday. Erosion takes a serious turn at both the vulnerable points when water level of Karotoa rises, they said. At times, flood water overflows three to four kilometre stretches of the roads at the two points, they added. In about a fortnight, the river devoured vast croplands and many houses in Tarafmanu, Chalk Rahimanpur, Goshaipur, Shahebganj and Kaiyaganj villages, displacing about 3,000 people, the locals said. Five years ago, the river was about one and half kilometers off the highways. The river took a U shape due to unabated erosion, locals said. As in every year, Water Development Board (WDB) dumped brickbats and sand bags at the vulnerable points this year also to stop erosion, but the measure is almost temporary, said an official of WDB. It needs a loop cutting of one and half kilometers to straighten the U- shaped river to stop erosion, WDB Executive Engineer Babul Chandra Shill said. “We submitted a proposal for loop cutting involving Tk one crore but the plan is yet to be approved by higher authorities:”, he said. If the plan is implemented, the national highways together with crop lands, houses, educational institutes worth over Tk 50 crore will be saved, he added. “This year, we erected bamboo spars at Tarafmanu on emergency basis to save the highway. This is purely a temporary measure”, he said.
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