Agartala, May 20
Congress MLA Birajit Sinha, who earlier flagged concerns over Bangladesh constructing a high embankment near the zero point posing a flood threat to Kailashahar town in Tripura’s Unakoti district—leading the government to raise the issue with the Centre—has now raised serious concerns over the ongoing reinforcement work of the Manu River embankment in the same region.
After visiting the site along with a five-member delegation, Sinha alleged that the embankment work is of extremely poor quality, not in accordance with the work order, and is progressing at a very slow pace despite the onset of monsoon.
He warned that if the work is not completed swiftly and with proper quality control, large-scale flooding may soon pose a grave risk to Kailashahar and its surrounding areas.
The embankment work, which began just a month ago after a gap of nearly 45 years, is being carried out at various locations including Kawlikura, Sonamukhi, Gournagar, Kamrangabari, Chanatol, Durgapur, Sonamara, Kinnaichhara, Govindapur, Baulapasha, Laxmipur, Safrikandi, Latiyapura, Rangaouti, Debipur, and Maguruli, at an estimated cost of around Rs 40 crore.
Despite the critical importance of the project, local residents and villagers have accused the executing agency of corruption and substandard work right from the start.
Reportedly, even after submitting written and verbal complaints to the local Flood Control Department’s Executive Engineer, no effective action has been taken, leading them to approach the MLA directly.
During his visit, Sinha, who is the local MLA of Kailashahar, observed that instead of following proper guidelines, loose soil was being dumped randomly over the old embankment without compacting it with heavy machinery as prescribed.
He alleged that although the work order mandates increasing the height of the embankment by five feet, in many places it was raised by only one or half a foot. Furthermore, no proper widening of the embankment has been done.
According to Sinha, the agency is working with just four dump trucks, which is wholly inadequate for such a large-scale project.
He emphasized that at least 20 trucks should be used simultaneously to complete the work before the monsoon intensifies, or else the region could face catastrophic consequences.
Following the inspection, the delegation met with Executive Engineer Ranjay Debbarma of the Kailashahar Flood Control Department and expressed deep dissatisfaction.
Sinha pointed out that the department’s guidelines for soil layering and compacting were not being followed, and no officials were present at the site to monitor the work—allowing the contractor to proceed as per their whims.
Sinha issued a stern warning that if immediate corrective measures are not taken, even a minor flood could cause the embankment to collapse again, particularly in the southern part of Kailashahar airport, which had suffered devastating flooding due to an embankment breach in 2018.
He alleged that the current work in that area is alarmingly substandard and does not comply with departmental norms, increasing the risk of a repeat disaster.
