Flood-fuelled rivers eat up two multi-storey schools in Bangladesh

The rivers Padma and Meghna have devoured two school buildings, both three-storeyed, in Madaripur and Chandpur after flash floods triggered land erosion.

Land erosion triggered by floods along the Meghna river finally claims three-storey Omar Ali High School, also a cyclone shelter which had been 15 kilometres from the river when the construction began at shoal-based Rajrajeshwar in Chandpur in 2019. Land erosion triggered by floods along the Meghna river finally claims three-storey Omar Ali High School, also a cyclone shelter which had been 15 kilometres from the river when the construction began at shoal-based Rajrajeshwar in Chandpur in 2019.

It took years of flooding and deposition on the riverbeds for the major rivers in Bangladesh to change their courses and reach the structures.

The authorities began the construction of Omar Ali High School, also a cyclone shelter, at shoal-based Rajrajeshwar in Chandpur in 2019. It was 15 kilometres from the Meghna at the time.

The river finally claimed the building on Thursday after the structure tilted for days amid the floods, putting the future of the school’s 500 students in jeopardy, Headmaster Shafiullah Sarker said.

The destruction of the school will also make difficult the job of evacuating villagers before cyclones.

The contractor handed the building over to the authorities two months ago. The government spent Tk 22.9 million on the construction of the school.

In Madaripur’s Shibchar, locals fondly called the SESDP Model High School of Nuruddin Matborerkandi village under Bandorkhola union “the lighthouse of the shoals”.

Built in 2009, the structure broke into two parts on Wednesday night as the river Padma continued gobbling up the banks amid the floods.

Hundreds of villagers with teary eyes watched their beloved school collapsing into the river on Thursday.

“We don’t know whether we will be able to resume study even after the end of the coronavirus outbreak,” Headmaster Afzal Hossain said. Around 400 students from 10 villages were studying in the institution.   

Shibchar Upazila Executive Md Asaduzzaman said the authorities would arrange study for the students in temporary structures once the water recedes and the outbreak ends.

“More educational institutions would be built, but we don’t whether they will have the modern facilities like our school had,” said “Faysal”, a grade seven student of the school.

He said nearby Kazir Sura Government Primary School was also at risk of being eaten up by the river.

Partha Pratim Saha, the executive engineer of Madaripur Water Development Board, said they had tried to save the school and other structures with geobags this year and the year before, but the efforts went in vain due to strong currents.