Flood-control embankment, constructed spending Tk. 109 crore, to protect the bank of the river Jamuna in Sirajganj, has collapsed allegedly due to use of poor construction material. This is the tenth such collapse of the embankment, it was alleged. The collapse of the 30-metre embankment in this dry season of Madhya Khashkawlia UP under Chowhali upazila has created panic among area residents. Questions have been raised about the performance of most trusted monitoring committee, known as ‘Tofail committee’, formed by the Bangladesh Water Development Board (WDB).

“The ‘Tofail committee’ was formed to ensure quality of all the works taken up under WDB. But the collapse of the Jamuna river embankment at Chowhali, where the water barely has any current, raised question about the role of the committee,” sources in WDB told The Independent. “Low quality work, corruption and various irregularities are the causes behind the collapse,” acting upazila nirbahi officer of Chowhali, Anisur Rahman, alleged, while talking to reporters.

He further alleged that the Tangail WDB didn’t take any initiative to prevent the collapse. The WDB had taken up the project to protect a 7-km stretch covering Chowhali and Nagore upazilas from river erosion, in 2015, chairman of Khashkawlia UP, Shahid Hossain, said. He added ever since the construction started, the structure had collapsed at least 10 times. The structure collapsed last year on May 16, June 8 and 23, July 3, 7, 19, 20, 21 and 23, and this year on March 17, he added. Such collapses were repeatedly happening due to negligence of WDB officials, he alleged.

“We have already taken steps and appointed contractor to rebuild the collapsed portion of the embankment. We are constructing the embankment maintaining 100 per cent quality,” Shahjahan Siraj, executive engineer of WDB in Tangail told this correspondent. Allegations raised against WDB are not true, he said, adding that it is difficult to predict the nature of the river. The ‘Tofail Committee’ is monitoring the project to ensure the quality of work, he claimed.