In order to ensure safety of crops and lives of millions living in the country’s south-west coast, the government is constructing a 600 kilometres embankment across the coastal belt. To safeguard the people in face of natural disasters, the government is also repairing embankments damaged badly during the cyclones, tidal surges and other natural disasters in the last few years.
Under the Tk 3500 crore ‘Coastal Embankment Development Project’, repair or construction of embankments will be made at the coastal belt. Disaster management and relief ministry information showed, to protect coastal belt, the government is constructing 625 km embankment in six districts. Under the project, the embankment will construct under 17 polders in Khulna, Satkhira, Bagerhat, Pirojur, Barguna and Patuakhali districts.
Once the project is completed, the embankment in the coastal region will be upgraded to six to seven and half meter high, said officials. They claimed that the embankments made or repaired under the project are expected to last for hundred years. The project being implemented at a cost of 3500 crore is scheduled to complete by 2020.
Notable, on May 5, state minister for disaster management and relief Dr Enamur Rahman deputy minister of water resources AKM Enamul Hoque Shameem visited the risk-prone areas of the coastal region. They promised to renovate and construct long lasting embankments as earliest. The construction of embankment became the centre of discussion since cyclone Fani passed over the country, submerging parts of the vast coastal belt and destroying croplands.
Water Resource Ministry sources said during cyclone Fani, 89-km embankments were damaged at 243 points of a 4000-km portion of the total 19000-km coastal embankments.
Sources said people of Barguna, Satkhira, Patuakhali, Pirojpur and Khula are living under a continuously dangerous situation for the lack of embankments. During the rainy season, even the normal tidal waves flood the coastal villages. To this end water resource minister Colonel Zahid Faruk Shamim said we are going to reconstruct the embankment damaged by cyclone Fani, besides, we are also planning to construct long-lasting dam in the coastal areas.
Water Board Development (WBD) sources said, some embankment of coastal areas are damaged which was constructed during the British period. During that time these embankment was constructed measuring the level of sea level. But now time has changed, in the context of climate change, river tidal and storm cyclone are also changing. Considering all above, coastal embankment and renovating and newly constructing. WBD information further showed that, in Khulna region there are a total of 365.24 kilometers (km) embankment where 109 km are damaged, in WBD Khulna-2 region there are 510 km embankment where 45 km are in danger.
