GAIBANDHA, Apr 19: Ruling Party Awami League came to power through a landslide victory of general election held on December 29, 2008.
After coming to power, the government predicted if the river bank is protected, the homesteads and arable land would be saved from the erosion, and if flood control embankment is built, thousands hectares of cropland would be saved from the flood.
Due to erosion, hundreds of people living on the riverbank of the district are becoming loser; so the number of erosion victims continues to increase in the district, and they are living in hardship on the nearby embankment, making the embankment weak and vulnerable.
Taking this in view and to give the people relief from the erosion, the government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina took initiative to protect banks of the river from erosion.
Many development works including infrastructural ones have been made along the right bank of the Jamuna River in the district in last 15 years from 2009 to 2023.
The development works were implemented by Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) under different projects.
The works included protecting Fulchhari Upazila headquarters and Kamarjani Bandar, Kanchipara, Syedpur and Balashighat areas and Saghata Bazar along with its adjavcent areas from the erosion by the Jamuna River, protecting a number of areas of Kamalerpara Union from the erosion by Katakhali River, protecting Kazla Dharmapur area in Gobindaganj Upazila from the erosion by the Karatoa River, protecting massgrave and other establishments from the erosion by the Jamuna River and protecting Katlamari in Fulchhari Upazila and Gobindi and Holdi areas in Saghata Upazila from the erosion by the Jamuna River.
Besides, river bank protection work along the right bank of the Jamuna River from Goghat under Kamarjani Union in Sadar Upazila to Babur Bazar under Sreepur Union in Sundarganj Upazila have been done at the initiative of BWDB, said Sub-Divisional Engineer Walid Arshad.
Faruqul Islam, head teacher of Kamarjani Merchants High School, said, "We were more worried about river erosion all the year round. For doing the river bank protection work by BWDB, we are freed from tension regarding erosion."
He also expressed his gratefulness to the government as they had been making demonstration and movement demanding the riverbank protection work in the area for a long time.
In addition, the flood control embankment from Jumarbari of Saghata Upazila to Belka Bazar in Sundarganj Upazila had been repaired to protect the embankment from breach and collapse due to possible flood water, he added.
Executive Engineer of BWDB Hafijul Haque said, the quality of the works has been ensured to make it sustainable.
For these development works, people are enjoying the benefits of the works, he added.
