Sixteen years ago, another much stronger cyclone, 'Sidr', took a similar path to 'Bulbul' that ripped through the coastal districts, including Bagerhat.
On November 15, 2007, the super cyclone left a trail of destruction in the coastal region, battering villages after villages and destroying embankments along the rivers, including that of the Baleshwar river.
However, a durable embankment is yet to be constructed along the Baleshwar River to protect locals from natural calamities, including cyclonic storms and tidal surges.
The government has constructed an embankment but that was washed away and significantly damaged at many points on August 23 this year.
The nightmarish memories of the devastating cyclone still haunt the coastal residents, especially those in Sharankhola Upazila here, who lost their loved ones as well as their belongings in the cyclone.
The tidal surges during the storm shattered the embankment along the Baleshwar River before inundating villages after villages in the coastal areas.
In 2016, a Tk 696-crore project was taken to construct a 62-km durable embankment along the river in Sadar, Sharankhola, Morelganj and Rampal upazilas of Bagerhat and Dacope of Khulna district.
Over a two-km stretch from Gabtala to Bogi went into the river over all these years while some more points are at the risk of being devoured by the river anytime soon.
Over a two-km stretch from Gabtala to Bogi went into the river over all these years while some more points are at the risk of being devoured by the river anytime.
A portion of the embankment in Tafalbari area in Sarankhola upazila had collapsed while cement-made blocks removed in several areas of the embankment.
Mohammad Nurul Islam Miah, Deputy-Divisional Engineer of BWDB's Bagerhat Office, said about 13 km of the Balwshwar River embankment in Sadar upazila, Sarankhola, Chitalmari, Morrelganj and Mollahat upazila had been damaged.
Recounting the horror, Babul Hawlader, 45, of Bogi village said he sent his wife and children to a shelter centre and stayed back home alone on the night when cyclone 'Bulbul' hit the coastal districts in the early hours of November 10. "My house was flooded following ebb tide and I survived holding a tree on the embankment." He also said the Baleshwar River ate way his two bighas of his land. Babul also said he is frustrated as the damaged embankment leaving his house vulnerable to the river erosion.
President of Gabtala Ashar Alo Mosque-cum-cyclone centre caretaker Abdul Barek Hawlader said the Baleshwar River is now approaching the mosque to devour it. "If a durable embankment is not built as soon as possible, the cyclone shelter will also go to the river," he added.
Some 908 people were killed and 76 others went missing in the district during cyclonic storm Sidr that lashed the coastal districts on November 15, 2007. Some 1,627 square kilometres of areas were destroyed while 65,000 houses were damaged by the cyclone.
