Hundreds evicted as Buri-Bhadra River soil engulfs state-built homes in Khulna

What began as a river restoration project has turned into a humanitarian crisis in Khulna, where dredged soil from the Buri-Bhadra River has buried homes built for landless families, forcing hundreds to live in an open field with no electricity, water or shelter

Homes of landless families are buried under soil dredged from the Buri-Bhadra River flowing beside the Chuknagar Ashrayan project in Dumuria Upazila of Khulna.

In Khulna’s Dumuria Upazila, a government river dredging project has buried not only land but the fragile hopes of more than a hundred homeless families, who once believed they had finally escaped a life of displacement.

Now, those same families from two Ashrayan housing projects are living in an open field beside Chuknagar cattle market, exposed to heat, rain and uncertainty after their homes were engulfed by soil excavated from the Buri-Bhadra River.

The crisis began when dredging work started along stretches of the river adjacent to the Chuknagar and Kathaltala Boratia government projects under Ashrayan-2, which had been established in 2021 to rehabilitate landless and homeless families across Dumuria.

Homes Reduced to Rubble

According to affected residents, the government had built 145 brick-and-tin two-room houses in Chuknagar and 124 in Boratia. But after dredging began around five months ago, 143 houses in the Chuknagar site were dismantled or rendered uninhabitable. Only two remain intact.

The displaced families now survive in makeshift shelters made of tin sheets, polythene and cloth, erected on an open field near the Chuknagar market, where they endure extreme weather with no basic facilities.

Boratia residents are facing a new wave of hardship as dredged soil is piled beside their homes, forming large embankments that block access routes and threaten structural safety.

Soil Piling, Collapsing Shelters

Officials say the dredging project under the Jessore Water Development Board is 57 percent complete and is expected to finish in June 2027. But residents say the soil has been dumped dangerously close to their homes.

“The soil from the river has been stacked like hills, blocking our movement,” said local resident Rozina Begum.

“During rain, it slides. A 3-year-old child was nearly buried a few days ago, but neighbours rescued him in time.”

At Boratia, at least 10 houses have already been damaged as soil pressure cracks walls and floors. Rainwater has washed silt into rooms, breaking back walls and windows.

Many families have moved furniture, cooking utensils and bedding outside as homes become unsafe.

Rahima Begum, a 65-year-old, described nights filled with fear.

“We had nothing after river erosion. The government gave us a home. Now soil is being dumped on it. The walls keep cracking. I cannot sleep at night thinking the house might collapse and bury us,” she said.

She added that excavation had been carried out too close to the foundations, and even light rain now raises fears that houses could slide into the river. Residents have been forced to remove soil themselves to prevent further damage.

Another resident, Moyna Begum, said basic living conditions have collapsed entirely.

“There is no space to stay in the heat. Doors are broken. The structure is weak. We cannot stay safely with children. Toilets and tube wells are damaged. We have to keep our belongings outside,” she said.

Official Response and Uncertainty

Jessore Water Development Board officials said dredging is being carried out across 81.5km of rivers in Khulna and Jessore at a cost of around Tk 1.4 billion.

Executive Engineer Palash Banerjee said siltation in rivers including the Mukteshwari, Teka, Shree and Hari has raised riverbeds, worsening waterlogging across 54 wetlands fed through the Bhobadah sluice gate.

He said dredged soil placed near the Ashrayan sites had caused movement difficulties and damaged some homes, but added that “no separate budget has been allocated for resettlement of affected project residents”.

However, he said the soil would be removed quickly and damaged houses repaired.

Dumuria Upazila administrator (UNO) Sabita Sarkar also said steps were being taken to remove the soil and repair affected homes in Boratia.

On the question of relocation for Chuknagar residents, she said the matter had been forwarded to higher authorities, but no decision had yet been made.

For now, families who once thought they had finally secured a permanent address are left waiting -- between the promise of rehabilitation and the reality of displacement, buried under the very soil meant to reshape their land.