5/8/2015

Faultyconstructionanddesignareresponsibleforfailureofbankprotectionstructures|NewAge

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Faultyconstructionanddesignareresponsiblefor
failureofbankprotectionstructures
September5,201412:11am0Comments
MInamulHaque,chairmanofInstituteofWater&Environmentandalsoformerchiefengineer,(design)of
BangladeshWaterDevelopmentBoard,tellsAhmedShatilAlamaboutthefaultsintheconstructionand
designofembankmentsthatinundatedmuchofNorthBengalunderwater
InBangladesh,thereisaperceptionthatmostlyfloodoccursinthecountrywhentheneighbouring
countryIndiaopensitssluicegatesatdifferenttransboundaryrivers.Thisisnotthecasebehindthe
recentfloodintheNorthBengal.Wouldyouexplainwhyitstillhappened?

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Faultyconstructionanddesignareresponsibleforfailureofbankprotectionstructures|NewAge

SOURAVLASKAR
Itisnotthereasonbehindfortherecentmediumleveloffloodthathasbeencontinuinginmanyupazilasof
Kurigram,Jamalpur,Gaibandha,Bogra,Sirajganj,Tangail,PabnaandManikganj.
Thisyear,therewasnoforecastforseverefloods.Forthelastfewyears,themonsoonwindscausedheavy
rainfallintheIndusbasin,sotherewereseverefloodsinPakistaninlastyear.However,thisyeartherewas
drought,sotherewasforecastforfloodsintheGangesandBrahmaputrabasins.Itoccurred,butitwasnot
severe.
Meanwhile,thisyearNepalalsoexperiencedflood,butthewatersflowingoverBihardidnotreachBangladesh.
Teestabasinhadheavyrainfall,whichcausedfloodsinJalpaiguri,KuchbeharinIndia,andinourLalmonirhat
andKurigramdistricts.
FloodsoccurredinAssamalsoatthesametime,affectingGaibandha,Jamalpur,BograandSirajganj.The
floodwaterscouldrunoffbetweentheembankmentsofbothbanksoftheJamunaRiver,butthehavocwas
createdduetotheembankmentfailureatShariakandiupazilainBogra.
Afloodprotectionembankmentismadetoprotecttheareafromflooding,sowhydiditfail?
Basicallytheembankmentsaremadeforprotectingthecities,villagesandinhabitantsthere,butitssizeand
constructionisveryimportant.Theembankmentshavetowithstandriverwater.
However,beingtheembankmentsareearthenstructures,theycanbedestroyedifthewaterpressureishigher
[thanthedamsstrength].Besides,mostofthefloodprotectionembankmentsfailduetorivererosion.
Embankmentscanerodeduetowaterpressurefromtheriversideifthesewerepoorlymaintained.Faulty
constructionanddesignareresponsibleforfailureofbankprotectionstructures.
Wouldyoupleasetellusthatwhattypeofconstructionanddesignfaultshappeninmakingof
embankments?
Abankprotectionworkhastwoportions:thefirstportioniswellplacedconcreteblocsslopingfromabovethe
watertowardstheriverbedwhiletheotherismixedblocsofdifferentsizesplacedunderthewaterroughly,
towardstheriverbedtoprotectthebank.Theblocsabovethewaterprotectthebankfromwaveerosion.
Meanwhile,theblocsunderthewaterslidedowntoformaroughslopetowardstheriverbedasdefenseshield
whenerosionapproaches.
Thetotalbankprotectionworkfailswhenanyofthetwopartsarepoorlyconstructedandmostlythesecond
partwhichgivesshieldtothefirstpart.
However,beingaformerofficialofBangladeshWaterDevelopmentBoard,Ihaveobservedthatmostoften,
eventually,theprivatecontractorsarefoundnotmakingthesecondpartproperly.Theyuseonly10percent
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Faultyconstructionanddesignareresponsibleforfailureofbankprotectionstructures|NewAge

hardmaterialblocsunderwater,whileithastobe90percentormore.Inmostcases,thecontractorsmadethe
slopeabovethewaterfirst,whiletheactualprocessshouldhavebeenbuildingtheblocsbelowthewater
surfacefirst.
NowthatsomeareasoftheNorthhavebeenaffected,howdoyouseethepreventionoffutureincidents?
Duringourtime,withthehelpoflocals,weusedtomonitortheembankmentsduringtimesfloodingwasmost
expected,andrepaireverysingleandsmallholeimmediatelythatwerefouvndatembankments.Butthe
BWDB[BangladeshWaterDevelopmentBoard]atpresentisnotabletomonitorthesituationproperly,which
ishasresultedintheembankmenttofail.
WhycanBWDBnotkeepthesameorbetterpreparednessforflood,giventhateveryorganisationgrows
frompreviousexperiences?
Sinceindependence,unfortunatelynotasinglegovernmentwasseriousabouttheauthority,rathercurtailed
BWDBsmanpowersignificantly.Subsequentlytheyarestrugglingtomanagetheflood.Inaddition,in1972
thetotalemployeewere24,000atBWDB,whileinmid90sitgraduallydecreasedto10,000andnowitisonly
6,000.
ThecorporateculturereigningoverBWDBisnolessresponsibleforfailureofitsbankprotectionworks.
Beforethe1990s,anexecutiveengineerofBWDBinthefieldwasgivenallpowersandwasheldresponsible
forallhisworks.Sincethemid90s,WorldBankandADB[AsianDevelopmentBank]introducedthecorporate
cultureoffloatingtendersandappointingcontractorsaspertheirformula,andpayingasperreportoftheir
consultants.NowanexecutiveengineerofBWDBhasnopowerthanapostmaster.

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