A team of Tripura government and BSF officials on Sunday undertook an inspection of flood control measures under way in Belonia villages bordering Bangladesh, following concerns raised by the local populace over possible flooding and water-logging due to an embankment being built by the neighbouring country close to the international border.
Led by Tripura Public Works Department Secretary Kiran Gitte, the team took stock of the situation by visiting the border and then held a meeting with villagers and local representatives at the Circuit House in Belonia under South Tripura district.
The Tripura-Bangladesh stretch of the international border is 856km-long. Ties between the two nations have been strained following the ouster of the Hasina regime in August last year. The border has remained tense since.
Sources said Gitte assured the local populace that they need not panic because the administration would expedite flood control work in the area and complete the same by June.
Altogether, work was under way in 43 flood-hit locations across the state.
“There is no need to panic. We have deployed five additional engineers to Belonia on deputation to strengthen the embankment on our side. We will complete the work by June. We seek the cooperation of everyone for speedy completion,” Gitte said after the meeting.
Last year’s devastating flood had caused extensive damage in the state, washing away several embankments.
Sources said the senior official, however, made no mention of the nearly-complete embankment being built by Bangladesh in Feni district bordering South Tripura district, allegedly 15 yards from the zero line at the border.
According to the border pact, no permanent construction can take place within 150 yards of the zero line.
Reports from Agartala said that CPM MLA Dipankar Sen and Belonia locals had flagged concerns about the under-construction embankment — 1.5km-long and 15 to 20 feet high — to prevent flooding from the Mahuri river during the monsoon.
An Agartala local who visited Belonia on Sunday said around 500 people from four village panchayats located along the border have flagged concerns over possible flooding and water-logging because of the nearly-complete embankment, which has no water outlet.
The villagers want the administration to get the embankment removed or ensure there is no water-logging in their area because of the embankment, the Agartala local said.
Sources said downstream Bangladesh had similarly constructed an embankment close to Kailashahar under Unakoti district of the state, fuelling similar apprehension of flooding and water-logging. The construction news became public only in January.