Concrete blocks and boulders procured for the project are lying unused at the sites for the last two years.

Local people staged demonstrations and gave representations to the authorities to save their respective areas from erosion by the Surma river, but to no effect.

The uncertainty has angered the people because if the project is not implemented before the next monsoon, the work so far done at the cost of a huge amount of public money will vanish.

The project was taken up several years ago to protect the Surma banks along the city and in suburbs. Under the programme, 12 kilometre road and river bank protection work was to be done.

The major portion of the work includes renovation of the road from the Majar of Hajrat Gazi Burhanuddin (RA) in the east to Kanishail-Darsha in the west of the town and protection of the river bank in Alampur and Mistri Masjid areas.

The work was started during the tenure of Awami League government at the instruction of the then Speaker Humayun Rashid Chowdhury, who was the MP from Sylhet-1 constituency. The work could not completed due to lack of funds.

When BNP came to power, Finance Minister M Saifur Rahman, MP from the area, instructed revision of the project with inclusion of new areas.

The Water Development Board (WDB) floated tenders for Tk 4.39 crore. About 50 per cent of the work was completed.

Meantime, the finance minister ordered implementation of the project from the east to the west part without any break. But, WDB continued the work as per the old project Proforma (PP) as the revised PP was lying with the planning ministry for approval, the sources said.

Unless approval is received, it was not possible to work as per the new PP, covering the proposed new sites, they said. High officials of the WDB visited some of the project sites a few months back. Finding "low quality work and irregularity at points" they suspended the whole work.

The earlier PP was prepared keeping provisions for protection of the riverbank at Kalapara, Darsha, Alampur, Kanishail and some other areas at a sanctioned amount of Tk 14.61 crore.

The revised PP involving Tk 90.7 crore expenditure includes protection of 9.7 km area on the right bank of the river and 8.05 km on the left bank.

They said they hoped the revised project would be approved soon and work would begin.

Meanwhile Sylhet City Corporation commissioners Haji Faruque Ahmed of Ward 23 and Mohammad Shahjahan ward 24 alleged that WDB did not do any protection work in Masimpur, Mednibag, Noagaon and Kushighat areas in the last dry season though concrete blocks had been lying there.

They blamed WDB officials for negligence of duty.

Same was the view of Ataur Rahman Ata, a resident of Mendibag and president of Sylhet Divison Photo Journalists Association.

Ataur said a commotion is prevailing among the residents of the areas as their several representations and demonstrations for implementation of the project went unheeded by the authorities.

Every year the Surma devours lands in the city and its suburbs. The areas include Sheikhghat, Tukerbazar, Ghopal, Jangail, Pirpur Chargaon, Haiderpur Sahebergaon, Kanishail, Broikandi, Anantapur, Darsha, Kamalganj, Technical Road, Alampur.

There was no major dredging in the river Surma for long. Dredging was done on only in 2 km area from Dhanpur to Chandpur in the Sadar upazila in 1978.

Hill waters from Indian cause the erosion every year and sometimes overflow the riverbanks.