A day after cracks appeared in the Padma bank-protection embankment near Sureshwar fish market in Naria upazila, Shariatpur, about 20 metres of it slid into the river on Thursday evening (1 October). Traders and residents along the bank are alarmed that the embankment has given way only three years after it was built.
Cracks opened along about 50 metres of the embankment on Wednesday (30 September). Fearing the rest could go too, many traders are moving goods out of their shops. Local people say that if the damage spreads, Sureshwar fish market and the homes and businesses around it will be at risk.
Sureshwar fish market is an important trading point on the river, drawing traders, fishers and shoppers from across the area every day.
The Bangladesh Water Development Board built the embankment in 2023 along about 10 kilometres of the Padma's right bank, from Sureshwar fish market in Naria to Bilaspur in Zajira, at a cost of about Tk 1,403 crore. That it has cracked within three years has raised questions locally.
Milton Hossain, executive engineer of the Water Development Board in Shariatpur, said officials had visited the site and that emergency dumping of geobags at the damaged section would begin on Friday morning. Naria upazila officials have also inspected the area. Residents fear things will get worse unless the vulnerable stretch is protected quickly.
This report is based on information from Dhaka Mail's Shariatpur district correspondent.
Photo: Araf Joy / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: Dhaka Mail
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