Protection works on the Meghna river bank are yet to start, even though the Bhola Water Development Board issued a work order on it three months back. This has kept residents of the two unions of Bhola Sadar in constant fear of flooding.
The work was scheduled to start from November 1.
 Sources said about 10,000 families have been rendered homeless in Ilisha and Rajapur unions due to continuous erosion of the banks of the Meghna river in the last two years.
About 5,000 acres of cultivable land, 10 educational institutions, 10 mosques, three big bazaars, an Islamic Foundation Charity clinic, a three-km stretch of the Bhola-Laxmipur highway, and a ferry terminal have been engulfed by the Meghna.
Commerce minister Tofail Ahmed, water resources minister Anisul Islam Mahamud and shipping minister Shajahan Khan have visited the affected areas several times and assured the local people that the government will take steps to protect them by laying concrete blocks on the eroded river bank soon.
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) has already approved Tk. 379 crore in the current fiscal year for laying concrete blocks on a 3.5-km stretch of the Meghna river bank.
People from Ilisha Junction Ghat have been blaming the contractor for the delay in starting the work.
Kanchan Bulai (65), Wali Ullah (62) and Sayeed Ali, all local residents, said that thousands of families in the area were living in fear.
The Bhola-Laxmipur ferry service would also be hampered because of the delay in starting the protection work.
While contacted, Babul Akter, executive engineer of the Bhola Water Development Board, said that the office had issued reminders to the contractor several times to start work immediately.
When asked, people on the site claimed that construction materials were being purchased and the work would start soon.