A large part of the West Deuri government primary school and cyclone shelter in Jhalokathi Sadar upazila has fallen into the Bishkhali river. The ground under the building has washed away and part of the basement has gone into the river; the building has been declared unsafe and normal classes have stopped. The rest of the shelter, built to protect people from cyclones, tidal surges and floods, could collapse at any time.
The building was put up in 2013-14 under the World Bank-funded Emergency Cyclone Recovery and Restoration Project. Its estimated cost was Tk 2.10 crore; it ended up costing Tk 2.76 crore. Residents say they objected when it was built only about 100 yards from an erosion-prone river and were told that the Water Development Board would protect the bank, but no effective protection followed.
During Cyclone Fani in 2019, the school's water tank and tube well went into the river. On 24 August 2021, two rooms of the two-storey building and part of a mosque collapsed; SSC candidate Neyamat Ullah, who had gone to watch, fell into the river and was never found. His father, Barek Howladar, said his son might still be alive if erosion had been tackled in time.
The erosion is now advancing on riverside homes and farmland. Farmer Kabir Howladar said his family lives by farming and the Bishkhali eats a little more of their land every year; where there were fields there is now water. He called for geobags to be dropped quickly and for the bank to be protected permanently. Rokeya Begum, who lives on the bank, said families worry where they would shelter with their children and livestock in the next storm.
Nazera Banu, who has already lost her house to the river, said residents had asked many times for the bank to be protected. Locals want the rest of the shelter safely removed, emergency erosion control, rehabilitation for affected families, a new shelter on safe ground, and an inquiry into how a publicly funded building was lost so quickly.
AKM Niloy Pasha, executive engineer of the Water Development Board in Jhalokathi, said the Deuri shelter had gone into the river. A project to protect about 22 km of riverbank in the district has been proposed and covers this area, he said, and when work begins there the relevant department will be asked to remove the unsafe building.
The report is by Barta24's district correspondent in Jhalokathi.
Photo: Lonely Explorer / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0); the Bishkhali river at Jhalokathi
Source: Barta24
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