Two adjoining villages in haor areas of Karimganj and Itna upazilas in Kishoreganj could be saved if the work started by a previous government could be completed. Vast areas of Chong Nowagaon village in Karimganj upazila and Shimulbag in Itna upazila have been eroded by Dhono river, rendering about 300 families homeless in last several years. Locals said, they fell victim when the then Ershad government in 1988 dug a four kilometer cannel, locally known as Katakhal, in the haor at Boribari union in Itna upazila to link Dhono and Ghorautra rivers to the reduce waterway distance. During Awami League government, the then deputy speaker advocate Abdul Hamid took up another project in 1998 to save the villages by digging another canal to divert the waterway link. It was named Koira Kanda Khal project. Work was started at the end of the then AL government and 100 tons of wheat were allocated to dig the half a mile cannel, said M A Malek of Shimulbag village, one of the many victims. With 100 tons of wheat, two-thirds of Koira Kanda Khal was dug and another 50 tons of wheat was sanctioned. When BNP came to power, the project was cancelled. MA Malek and other members of the elite in the area said the Koira Kanda Khal project should be completed to save the two villages.