For Urmi Dhar, life was already a daily struggle.
She lives with her paralysed husband and eight-year-old son Dipu in a small government-built shelter house on the banks of the Bhadra river in Khulna’s Dumuria upazila, relying on occasional help from neighbours to survive.
Their modest two-room semi-pucca house was the family’s only refuge. Now, they fear losing that too.
A government river dredging project, undertaken to improve water flow and ease chronic waterlogging in the Bhabadah region, has left huge piles of excavated soil pressed against the shelter homes.
“We begged them not to dump soil beside our house; nobody listened. The soil has been piled against the walls and even on the roof. Our toilet and cooking space are buried. Cracks have appeared in the walls. How are we supposed to live here now?” Urmi asked.
Heavy monsoon rains have further worsened the situation, washing loose soil into the house, she said.
“Mud has accumulated inside the rooms and on the narrow pathways between the houses. Our toilet has become unusable. We are women. Where are we supposed to go? For the last few days, we have had to manage somehow after dark.”
The Bhadra River dredging is part of a Tk 140-crore initiative to excavate six rivers spanning 81 kilometres to reduce waterlogging in Bhabadah. The project is being implemented by the Bangladesh Army’s 24 Engineer Construction Brigade under the supervision of the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB). Following the signing of an MoU between BWDB and the army in September 2025, work on the project began the following month.
While the project’s objectives were widely welcomed, residents say poor planning and inadequate oversight have turned it into a source of fear and uncertainty for some of the region’s most vulnerable people.
Visiting the shelter project yesterday, this correspondent saw children, including Urmi’s son, trying to clear mud from behind their house.
Inside, it seemed the family was living amid an ongoing disaster.
The shelter project in Baratia village, comprising 48 houses, was established in 2021 under former prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s Ashrayan-2 project. It was initiated to provide housing for landless and displaced families who had lost everything to river erosion, poverty and repeated displacement.
Residents allege that soil excavated during the ongoing dredging of the Bhadra River is being dumped dangerously close to the houses. In several places, the piles have reached nearly roof height, raising fears of collapse during heavy rainfall.
According to locals, one house has already been demolished to facilitate the movement of excavators. Of the 29 houses along the riverbank, at least eight have suffered significant damage, while almost all have had their kitchens, toilets or access paths affected by the dumped soil.
Abdul Hamid Sheikh, who lives in one of the riverbank houses with his eight-member family, showed large cracks running through the walls.
Pointing to the cracks, he said, “These houses were already fragile. How can they survive when massive piles of soil are dumped beside them using heavy machinery? The walls can collapse at any time.”
Sheets of corrugated tin on the house were partially buried under soil.
“The roof has bent under pressure. Half the house is blocked. Nobody comes to see our suffering. We heard the UNO visited, but she did not inspect the damaged houses,” he alleged.
Residents also said one of their limited drinking water sources had been buried under the dredged soil.
“There is one tube-well for every 12 families. Even that has not been spared,” Hamid said.
Sharmin Akter, a day labourer who has lived in the project for five years after moving from Satkhira’s Shyamnagar, said, “They started dumping soil without consulting or even informing us. We are afraid to speak out. We only want the soil removed before something tragic happens.”
Officials, however, say corrective measures are being taken.
Dumuria Upazila Nirbahi Officer Sabita Sarker said the matter had come to her attention and that she had already spoken with BWDB officials.
“The issue is being resolved,” she added.
Contacted, Khulna Deputy Commissioner Hoore Jannat told The Daily Star, “We have spoken to the officer in charge of the army’s work on this issue. They are taking the initiative to remove the soil from the houses.”
During a visit to the site on Sunday, Polash Kumar Banerjee, executive engineer of Jashore BWDB, said the implementing agency had been instructed to remove the soil from around the houses by yesterday afternoon.
“If any houses or structures have been damaged because of the soil dumping, those will also have to be repaired by the responsible authority.”
However, during another visit to the site yesterday, this correspondent found the soil removal work progressing slowly, with soil cleared from only a few of the shelter houses.
