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Published : 09 Apr 2017, 10:45 PM
Funds meant for flood defences were stolen, farmers and other local residents alleged at a press conference in Dhaka on Sunday.
The same day, State Minister for Finance Abdul Mannan said he was aware of the complaints about irregularities in projects for building and repairing these dams.
Boro rice fields have been damaged in flash floods that submerged the majority of wetlands in Sunamganj, Sylhet, Moulvibazar, Habiganj, Kishoreganj, Netrokona and Brahmanbaria.
“There are crop losses every year but it’s different this year,” Mustafa Jabbar, a leading IT entrepreneur who came from Brahmanabria, said in a press conference by Haor Advocacy Platform or HAP.
“In previous years, we saw paddy grow even when these wetlands were under water. Some crops were still retrievable. But the shoots didn’t even appear this year. I have never seen a crisis like this.”
The group’s joint convener Sharifuzzaman said he noticed irregularities in embankment restoration projects during his visits to parts of Sunamganj in March.
The irregularities around embankments involve risky and incomplete structures, delays in construction and building the structures in wrong locations.
“Sunamganj as a district received Tk 590 million, which means there was no shortage of funds,” said Jabbar.
“It’s quite clear that the funds are being embezzled by everyone from Water Development Board officials to contractors.”
“There are canals connected to the many water bodies in these marshlands. Flash floods happen here when water from India flows into Surma, Kushiara and Jhunu rivers. The rivers overflow as they don’t have the capacity to hold this extra water.”
He said it was worrying that the Water Development Board could not find a solution for securing wetland crops in the last 46 years.
“The irregularities in building embankments have turned public sentiments against the Water Development Board,” Mannan told reporters in Sunamganj.
“I will make recommendations so that the government forms a probe committee for finding the culprits.”
President Md Abdul Hamid also expressed concerns over the flood conditions.
“The president has already talked to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina about this crisis causing suffering to the people,” said a statement from the president’s press wing.
“He has promised measures to reduce this crisis and prevent it from happening in the future.”
Around 171,115 hectares of land in Sunamganj, Netrokona and Kishoreganj were submerged by flash floods, said HAP’s Sharifuzzaman, using data from the Department of Agricultural Extension.
Of that, 130,000 hectares were in Sunamganj.
The damage caused in Netrokona and Kishoreganj amounts to about Tk 20.5 billion.
“The people of these wetlands will not be able to afford their own food and living for a whole year,” Jabbar said.
As much as 25 percent of the country’s rice comes from the haor areas in the northeast, which means a large chunk of paddy is lost, according to Jabbar.
