Ashrayan houses flooded in Khulna’s Dumuria, leaving dwellers to untold sufferings

AN Ashrayan (shelter) project with 56 houses in Khulna’s Dumuria upazila has remained inundated for the last three months, leaving over a hundred residents amid untold sufferings.

The project was constructed in an unplanned manner in a low-lying area, ignoring objections from local representatives.

Locals said the shelter was developed in an area where a river used to flow even a decade back.

Visiting the shelter project recently it is found most houses lying amid knee to waist-deep water.

Residents said they left their allotted houses. For the last three months, they have been living amid difficulties.

The shelter became submerged three months ago during monsoon; most residents were forced to leave the shelter and are now renting houses in neighboring villages.

It is true that our government gave us a house, but what benefit is it to us if we cannot live in it?

Despite locals’ repeated requests not to construct buildings in the water-flowing zone, their call fell on dumb ears. The UNO did the government’s project whimsically, without consulting locals. Ultimately poor people are suffering now.

The situation has turned worse as water cannot drain through the canal because the Shoilmari River has become silted and the sluice gate is not operational.

If the rivers are not dredged, not only the shelter project, but the surrounding villages will become permanently inundated.

Like the Shelter projects, almost all other propagating projects — for example, expressway, flyover, Dhaka-Cox’s Bazar rail line, specialised hospitals, nuclear power plants, metro rail, and thousands of others failed to serve the people for which it was supposed.

Looting money in the name of mega projects has become a textbook example during the regime.

Without political settlements, there is no hope of accountability and democracy that empower people and stop such public money-wasting spree.