BSS, Rajshahi :
Prospects of boosting surface water irrigation is very bright in Rajshahi Barind area as it has scores of natural water bodies which remain in uncared and derelict condition at present, experts said.
Referring to various research findings Prof Chowdhury Sarwar Jahan said there are around 10,000 ponds, 200 canals and ten other big sized waterholes in the barind areas comprising Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj and Naogaon districts.
“We have enormous scopes of enriching the surface water resources through proper management of the water bodies,” he said, adding boosting surface water irrigation has become the demand of time.
Prof Chowdhury who teaches at the Department of Geology and Mining in Rajshahi University has been conducting research on both surface and groundwater resources in the drought-prone Barind area for a long time.
He cited the instance of Beelbhatia, a vast water body and wetland of around 6,388 acres, at Bholahat upazila in Chapainawabganj. Tens of thousands hectares of farmlands can be irrigated round the year through using conserved water of the beel if it was re-excavated.
There is another four to five kilometer long water body at Rohanpur in Gomastapur upazila of the same district. If it was re-excavated, around 10,000 hectares of land of 25,000 farmers can be brought under surface water irrigation.
Apart from this, the two-kilometer long Chowdala-Boalia canal remained in derelict condition for long. Around 150 hectares of farmlands can be irrigated with water from the canal if it was re-excavated, Prof Chowdhury added.
Transforming all the existing underground water-based irrigation into surface water ones can be the crucial means of lessening the gradually mounting pressure on groundwater tables.
He mentioned that the gradually declining water resources are posing a serious threat to the living and livelihood condition of the marginalized and other less-income group families in the water-stressed area.
