60 feet of Gopalpur road submerged in Jamuna, suffering

Due to the severe low tide of the Jamuna river, a large part of the Tarakandi-Tangail regional highway has been submerged in the Sakharia-Nolin area of ​​Hemnagar union of Gopalpur upazila of Tangail. Due to the continuous low tide for the past few days, about 60 feet of the road near Nolin Bazar was also submerged in the river on Monday (July 20) night.
At the same time, a new crack has appeared in the middle of the road. All types of traffic on the highway have been closed for the third consecutive day due to the risk. Local residents and passengers are suffering greatly due to this.
It was seen on the spot that cracks and low tide have appeared in various places of the road-flood control embankment in the area adjacent to Sakharia sluice gate due to the rise in the water of the Jamuna river and the pressure of the strong current. A large part of the highway has already been submerged in the river. Residents of nearby houses are moving daily necessities to a safe place due to the fear of erosion.
Locals fear that if the flood control dam completely breaks, a large part of Gopalpur and several surrounding upazilas may be flooded. This could affect lakhs of people and cut off important road connectivity.
Shamsul Alam, who is in charge of the local upazila chairman, said that if immediate effective measures are not taken in the erosion-affected areas of Sakharia and Nalin areas, various structures including the regional highway will disappear into the riverbed and a large area is likely to be flooded.
The local administration and the Water Development Board (Pawbo) visited the site after receiving information about the cracks and erosion on the road. Later, the work of laying geobags was started on an emergency basis to prevent erosion. On Tuesday afternoon, geobags were seen being laid in the affected area of ​​about 100 feet adjacent to the Sakharia sluice gate.
Gopalpur Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Manjurul Morshed said that the pressure of the current has increased due to the rise in water in the Jamuna. Upon receiving the news of the erosion, local MP Advocate Abdus Salam Pintu visited the scene and assured to take necessary measures.
Tangail Water Development Board Executive Engineer Md. Moin Uddin said that a part of the regional highway has been damaged due to the intense pressure of water. Geobags are being installed on an urgent basis to deal with the situation. In addition, necessary measures are being taken by monitoring the movement of the river.
Meanwhile, all types of traffic have been closed on the Tarakandi-Bhuiyanpur regional highway for the second consecutive day due to the risky situation. Hemnagar police outpost said that vehicles are plying through Nalin Bazar as an alternative. Locals claim that due to unplanned river excavation and lack of effective river management for a long time, the erosion of the Jamuna river has taken a terrible shape. They demanded immediate implementation of sustainable river management and permanent defense measures.