The authorities concerned are yet to mend the cracks in the Rajshahi town protection embankment, putting the city dwellers at risk.
A growing sense of uncertainty is evident among the city people as there can take place flood if the embankment is damaged by rainfall.
A portion of the 10-kilometre embankment near the Rajshahi court has developed big cracks and grown potholes. The embankment is also damaged in that point due to soil erosion and sand lifting.
The metal nets that kept bricks fixed to the embankment were also found damaged at several places. The nearby slums also damaged the embankment, said officials of Rajshahi Water Development Board.
The rise in water level of the River Padma in the rainy season might pose a severe threat to the embankment, the officials said.
The Rajshahi Water Development Board authorities said they were experiencing fund crisis for last few months, which led to the delay in repairing the damaged embankment.
The Rajshahi WDB sub-divisional engineer, Sadrul Ami, said, ‘The authorities concerned usually perform repair in the embankment before rainfall starts every year.’
He admitted that this year the authorities failed to carry out the repair in some damaged portions of the embankment.
The authorities started repairing some damages few months ago, but they had to stop the works for fund crisis, he said.
The executive engineer of Water Development Board, Harun-or-Rashid, told New Age that they had submitted project proposal several times for repairing the Rajshahi town protection embankment.
But they were yet to get any response from the ministry, he added.