Failing to get government assistance despite repeated appeals and demonstrations many a times, men and women of all classes-- both educated and illiterate -- have joined hands under the banner of a Self-help Implementation Parishad.

Teachers, students, local political party activists, peasants and day labourers from Nilkuthi area near the upazila headquarter are working together.

They are building a massive 1700 feet long and 30 feet high embankment.

This correspondent during a visit to the site last week saw that about 20 per cent of the work has been completed. The dam is being built across a dried up tributary of the Jamuna to divert its water.

Over the years, the mighty river devoured a large area in Fulchhari Sadar during rainy season, threatening the upazila headquarter, also a traditional business centre.

Every day, several hundred people join the work voluntarily, freedom fighter Shahidul Islam, convenor of the Parishad, told this correspondent.

He said the upazila headquarter could be threatened in the coming rainy season had the initiative not been taken. The people are determined to complete the work before rains start, he said.

Their initiative also brew notables from other areas. Gaibandha district BNP President Hamidul Huq Chhana was seen visibly moved at the people's initiative and assured them of all possible help.

Fulchhari Upazila Nirbahi Officer Gautam Kumar Bhattacharji said, "They are doing a great job". Their spontaneous response to a local problem and the spirit of cooperation and unity draws me here frequently, he told this correspondent.

He said the Fulchhari Protection Plan was approved by the Executive Committee of National Economy Council (ECNEC) but the government did not allocate any fund.