Even after two years of handover of the cluster village on Padmachar in Shibchar, Madaripur, no one lives in the habitats, built at a cost of millions of taka, mainly for a lack of habitable environs.
The destitute have left the backwater cluster village for a lack of civic amenities, sources said.
Civil society thinks that this whole project of the government has gone to waste due to alleged corruption and irregularities. The deputy commissioner thinks that the cluster village has been built on the Padma Char in an unplanned manner. "The issue of the destitute having left the cluster village will be investigated and necessary steps will be taken," he said.
According to the relevant sources, this cluster village was constructed in Charchandra mouza of Kanthalbari union of Shibchar upazila of Madaripur at a cost of Tk 13.5 million with the funding of Bangladesh land ministry in the financial year 2016-17. The houses were also handed over to 90 families on March 26, 2019 by the government.
Due to the Padmachar being far off the mainland of the district, the cluster village lacks transportation, electricity and potable water. At present the cluster village is littered with dirty garbage, grass and herbs. Many houses have been destroyed. Some houses have been submerged in the Padma. At present, three other families who are victims of river erosion and one allotted family have taken shelter in this cluster village, but none of the remaining 89 beneficiary families lives here.
Only one of the allotted families lives in this cluster village. Jaitun Bibi, a member of that family, said those who have got a house here do not live because they have land to live elsewhere. "We have no land so we live here."
Three more families who lost their land to river erosion have taken shelter in an empty house in this cluster village. The family members who took shelter said the same thing.
Rabiul Sheikh, who took shelter there, said, "We have no place to stay now due to river erosion. So I have been living in this empty room. We did not get any house allotment. I have taken shelter in this house."
Shefali Begum, another family member who took shelter, said the dilapidated condition of the houses was unsuitable for living.
She said water falls through the shed of the house. There is no soil under the house. The bathroom is also broken. No electricity. We have taken shelter here as we have nowhere to stay at the moment. Another resident, Aklima Begum, said the same.
At least 20 houses have already been washed away in the Padma due to rising water level. The condition of the rest of the houses is also fragile.
Rajan Mahmud, a member of TIB's Madaripur Aware Citizens Committee, said the cluster village in Shibchar was not properly planned. The houses built for the poor people in this cluster village are now in a poor state.
Sources said the then Shibchar Upazila Nirbahi Officer, Imran Ahmed, and current Shibchar Upazila Project Implementation Officer Emdadul Haque were in charge of supervising the entire project. The cost of constructing a verandah, kitchen and bathroom with a house built on a mud floor is estimated at Tk 1.5 lakh each.
However, Shibchar Upazila Project Officer Emdadul Haque said, "I can't say anything about it now."
Deputy Commissioner Rahima Khatun said, "When the cluster village was built, everything was there, starting from schools, community clinics, markets. So the people who were allotted houses moved to the houses in cluster village. I saw that picture. However, in the last financial year, schools, community clinics, markets and all were washed away in the river Padma.
"Several houses in cluster village have also been washed away by the river. The beneficiaries of cluster village are no longer living in the houses out of apprehension that their houses could be washed away by the river. Since the riverbank has collapsed here, there are no neighbours or houses in the vicinity. Water is all around."
The deputy commissioner further said that there is an authority for Padma bridge here. They have separate research on this area. "Whether the char will exist or not they will be able to tell. So we need to talk to them about this first. If the experts say you can stay here, the river will not break, then everything that needs to be done, starting with the replacement of the houses, will be done."
He further said, "If the expert team thinks there is or cannot be an environment to stay here, there is a risk of breakage. Then the cluster village will be shifted elsewhere. Cluster village has everything from electricity connection. There is also pure water. There is a deep tube-well here. Whatever needed for human habitation will be done.
