Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Thursday, 1 October, inaugurated the first phase of the rehabilitation of the Muhuri-Kohua Flood Control, Drainage and Irrigation Project in Feni district. The project is estimated to cost Tk 1,542.16 crore.

The ceremony took place in the early afternoon at the Kheyaghat area beside the Muhuri Bridge in Parshuram upazila. It was the Prime Minister's first official visit to Feni since taking office.

What the project will do

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council approved the project on 16 June. Under the first phase:

  • about 67.92 kilometres of flood-control embankments will be rehabilitated;
  • 11.73 kilometres of riverbank will be protected;
  • 83.50 kilometres of rivers and other water bodies will be re-excavated;
  • 27 irrigation structures will be repaired and 77 inlets built.

The work is scheduled to be finished by 2030. A later phase is planned to build new embankments along the Muhuri and Kohua rivers and to carry out embankment, excavation and repair work along the Silonia River.

Officials connected to the project said they expect it to reduce flood risk in the district, improve drainage and irrigation for farmers, and give better protection to people living along the rivers in Parshuram, Fulgazi and nearby areas.

Ministers and local MPs attend

Water Resources Minister Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anee, Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister and Feni-3 MP Abdul Awal Mintoo and State Minister for Water Resources Farhad Hossain Azad attended, along with the members of parliament for Feni-1 and Feni-2.

Solar power and farmer support

During the same visit, the Prime Minister launched the supply of electricity to the national grid from rooftop solar systems installed on government buildings in Fulgazi, Parshuram and Chhagalnaiya upazilas. The systems have a combined capacity of 962.5 kilowatts. He also joined a tree-planting programme at a women's college in Fulgazi and handed out Family Cards and Farmer Cards. A total of 7,643 people across Feni district were listed to receive Farmer Cards.

The water resources ministry has been running river and canal works in many districts this year, including canal re-excavation in Munshiganj that Minister Anee launched in May. For low-lying districts such as Munshiganj, where farmland depends on rivers for both irrigation and drainage, the Feni scheme shows the kind of combined embankment and excavation work the ministry is now funding.

Sources: mowr.gov.bd, bwdb.gov.bd, en.wikipedia.org