Teesta Erosion Getting Worse in Kurigram

With the retreat of floodwater, erosion by the Teesta River in the Kurigram area has taken a catastrophic turn, displacing many households and destroying enormous stretches of agriculture.

For the past three months, the river has been eroding its banks, and in the district's Rajarhat upazila, the erosion has recently gotten worse.

Locals said that Khitab Khan Government Primary School was in imminent danger of being carried away by the river because it was barely 30 to 35 meters distant at the time. The same is true of Gatiasham Community Clinic and Char Khitab Khan Government Primary School.

In Khitab Khan village alone, homes of 30 families including those of Ismail Hossain, Rasul, Mostak, Kadimal, Hasen Ali, Yusuf, Dulal, Abdur Rahim, Balo, Kacho Mamud Momin and  Harun went into the gorge of the river. The figure will 50 including the number of families in four other villages.

The Teesta river is devouring hundreds of acres of cropland and trees in Khitabkhan, Gatiasham villages of  Gharialdanga union and Chatura, Ramhari and Kalirhat villages of Bidyananda union, said locals.

Many of them have been living under the open sky.

Meanwhile, thousands of houses in five villages of Bidyananda and Gharialdanga unions of the upazila, Kalirhat Bazar, Burirhat Bazar, Kalirhat Government Primary School, KhitabKhan Government Primary School, Char Khitabkhan Government Primary School, Gatiasham Community Clinic and four mosques, two temples, various structures and hundreds of acres of cropland are facing erosion threat.

Abdus Sattar, 80, who lost home due to river erosion in Khitab Khan village, said, "We do not expect relief, we demand the government to implement the Teesta Master Plan to stop the erosion by the river."

Bhavesh Chandra, 70, of the same village, said, "There is no school within 3 or 4 kilometers of this village. Many boys and girls of this village will stop studying if Khitab Khan school is washed away by the river. ”

Thousands of residents in the region are calling for the Teesta Master Plan to be implemented in order to stop erosion, according to local UP member Mamun Mandal. If it is washed away by the river, he warned, the education of 300 to 400 pupils at KhitabKhan Government Primary School will be in doubt.

The task of putting sand bags is ongoing at several locations in the Gharialdanga and Bidyananda unions, according to Abdullah Al Mamun, executive engineer of the Kurigram Water Development Board, to avoid erosion.

Source: UNB