Jamuna devours 2 unions, more under threat

Roving Correspondent, Sirajganj
Jamuna erosion has left a trail of devastation in Rajapur and Soydabad unions in Belkuchi upazila of Sirajganj while some other unions south of the affected ones are under threat.
Some 500 houses were washed away rendering 20,000 people homeless in the unions and two educational institutions and 25 kilometres of road have been damaged by flood.
The erosion, that began reportedly due to the formation of a canal during the Jamuna bridge construction, caused almost 80 per cent of Randhunibari village in Rajapur union to go under water during the past seven days, said the villagers.
Victims, shifted on to a newly emerged shoal on the western side of Jamuna naming it 'Char Randhunibari Village'.
"We were told the canal would be closed after completion of the bridge construction. But it was not done, pushing us to the disaster," said Bashar Mollah, a villager.
"A power station will soon be constructed in the area causing the canal to be automatically closed," said Deputy Commi-ssioner of Sirajganj Ibadat Ali to The Daily Star on Wednesday.
Abdul Quader, a villager, said he had a house and a handloom factory with nine machines and 13 employees on the northern side of Randhunibari-Belkuchi road. But three days ago his land went under water.
"I sold the machines to buy a piece of land and now work under another handloom industrialist at a rate of Tk 70 per day," said a sobbing Quader.
The Randhunibari Government Primary School is also close to succumbing to erosion. Despite repeated appeals by the school authorities for the past two years, no action has been taken, said Abdul Kuddus, a teacher of the school.
Meanwhile, fresh areas in 48 unions of Kajipur, Chowhali, Belkuchi, Shahjadpur and Ullapara upazila were inundated in past 24 hours as the Jamuna flowed 20 centimetres above danger level.
Fifty tons of rice and Tk 50,000 were allocated for nearly one lakh affected people of the district. The district administration has so far distributed 40 tonnes of rice.