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Two unions in the Char areas of Kazipur and Chauhali Upazilas have borne the brunt of the erosion, the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) said on Saturday.
Over 100 homesteads, religious and educational institutions, trees, and crop fields have already been lost to the river, leaving riverbank communities sleepless with fear.
In Chargirish Char under Kazipur, union council member Al Amin Sarkar said the area once housed 500 to 600 families.
Some 150 had already relocated before the current bout of erosion; at least 30 more families had been made homeless in the past 10 days alone.
He feared another 100 families could lose their homes at any moment.
Residents spoke of losing everything. Abdul Momin said the homestead where his father and grandfather had lived — built with his life savings — had vanished into the river within days.
He was now living temporarily on someone else’s land.
Rafiqul Islam said he had no idea where to take his family or how to feed them.
Kohinur Khatun, who identified herself as a poor woman with nothing left, said the family would be sleeping under open skies without government help.
Rezaul Karim said the river had taken not just their homes but their dreams, leaving them like refugees in their own country.
Zahirul Islam said ancestral graves and a mosque had gone under, calling the loss beyond words.
Rashid Mia, in his 60s, said he had never felt so helpless in his life.
In Chauhali Upazila’s Bagutia Union, erosion has torn through roughly 3km of riverbank across the Chars of Charsolimabad, Bhuter Mor, Binanui, and Bhusuria over the past 10 to 15 days, taking with it 30 to 40 structures including homes, a mosque, a madrasa, a private school, and shops.
Geo-bags and geo-tubes dumped by the BWDB have failed to stem the damage, and residents are calling for permanent embankments.
Chauhali Upazila administrator (UNO) Nurul Amin, who visited the affected areas, said geo-bagging was under way and that the government would provide assistance to those affected.
Fear of erosion has also spread to riverbank and char settlements in Sirajganj Sadar, Belkuchi, and Shahjadpur Upazilas, where standing crops have gone under and residents can no longer move around without boats.
As of 6am on Saturday, the Jamuna was flowing 151cm below the danger level at Sirajganj point after rising 9cm, and 199cm below the danger level at Kazipur point after rising 7cm, according to the BWDB.
A 30m section of the right-bank protection embankment at Bahuka in Sadar Upazila’s Ratankandi Union has also collapsed, though the BWDB said it had since been brought under control using geo-bags and geo-tubes.
BWDB Executive Engineer Mokhlesur Rahman said work was ongoing at one site in Chauhali Upazila and at Bahuka.
On Char erosion, he said the riverine Char area was so vast that little could be done once it set in, but that a survey report would be sent to higher authorities if the government chose to act.
Source: https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/national/italian-police-identify-suspect-in-triple-bangladeshi-murder-in-rome
