A portion of the West Deuri Government Primary School-cum-Cyclone Shelter in Jhalakathi has collapsed into the Bishkhali River due to severe erosion with the entire structure now at risk of being swept away. Several homesteads and farmlands along the riverbank are also under threat while the Water Development Board has remained largely silent on the crisis.
Erosion washed away the soil beneath the shelter's foundation with causing part of the building to give way. Following the collapse the district authorities declared the structure unsafe also suspending classes and relocating students elsewhere.
The shelter built in 2013-14 with World Bank funding under the Emergency Cyclone Recovery and Restoration Project, cost around Tk.2.76 crore also exceeding its original Tk.2.10 crore estimate. Locals had objected to its construction just 100 yards from the erosion-prone river but authorities proceeded despite the warnings. Promised river-training measures to protect the site were never implemented.
On August 24, 2021 two rooms of the two-story shelter and an attached mosque were swept into the river. A student, Niamat Ullah lost his life after being pulled into the water while filming the incident his body was never recovered. His father reportedly still visits the site searching the riverbank for any sign of his son.
AKM Niloy Pasha the Executive Engineer at the Water Development Board, confirmed the shelter has been consumed by the river. He said the area falls under a proposed project to protect roughly 22 kilometers of riverbank also adding that authorities would be asked to relocate the damaged structure once that work begins.
Affected residents have urged the government to take immediate also effective action to prevent further erosion and protect what remains of the vital cyclone shelter.
