UNB, Bagerhat :
With the inauguration of dredging work on a 15-km silted-up stretch of the Daudkhali River in Rampal upazila, local farmers are looking forward to a regeneration of farming and fishing activities that had become stagnant since the river died out about eight years back.
The move has rekindled the hopes of thousands of people living nearby as the resurgence of the water flow in the river brings back the prospects of a bountiful of farm output as well as abundance of open water fishes as they had experienced before.
Local MP (Bagerhat-3) Talukdar Abdul Khaleque inaugurated the mechanical excavation of the silted-up river in Shriphaltala area of the upazila on Wednesday.
Bangladesh Water Development Board Superintendent Engineer (Khulna Circle) Bazlur Rashid, Rampal upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) Abu Raf Mohammad Arif, BWDB executive engineer (Bagerhat) M Moinuddin and Rampal upazila parishad chairman Sheikh Abu Sayeed were present on the occasion.Recounting the good days of the Daudkhali River, spetagenarian Kashem Mollik of Shriphaltala village told UNB, “Big launches and boats used to ply the Daudkhali River barely a few years ago.
People used to cross the river on boats. The government built a bridge on the river in 2000.””The river began to die out 10 years back. It became a dead river due to lack of water flow seven to eight years back. Now the river has turned into a plain-land.
People now cross it on foot,” he gasped.Abdul Halim Mridha and Rabindra Nath of the same village narrated that the river had been silted up due to the lack of maintenance of a sluice gate built by the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) at Phaila and the uncontrolled shrimp farming by blocking the canals of the river.
Almost all the rivers and canals of the area have been silted up due to the shrimp farming and the obstacle created by the BWDB sluice gate and the agriculture in summer has greatly been affected due to lack of water, while a vast area becomes waterlogged during monsoon, they noted.
BWDB executive engineer M Moinuddin said they will excavate about 110 km stretch of water channels in two rivers and 14 canals flowing across Bagerhat and Khulna districts.
The rivers include the Daudkhali and the Old Pashur, while the canals include Katakhal, Daulatkhali Khal, Morgakhal, Moidwarichamot Kkhal, Ghona Khal, Borguna Khal, Belai Khal, Urubuniar Khal, Joukhali Khal, Jugikhali Khal, Chulkathi Khal, Gabkhali Khal, Abbari Khal and Giletla Khal.Excavation of the 15 km stretch of the Daudkhali River under this programme will cost about Tk 8.10 crore, he added.
The channel of the Daudkhali River will be excavated upto 50 metres in width at the mouth of the river and 5-11 metres in depth, he noted.
With the inauguration of dredging work on a 15-km silted-up stretch of the Daudkhali River in Rampal upazila, local farmers are looking forward to a regeneration of farming and fishing activities that had become stagnant since the river died out about eight years back.
The move has rekindled the hopes of thousands of people living nearby as the resurgence of the water flow in the river brings back the prospects of a bountiful of farm output as well as abundance of open water fishes as they had experienced before.
Local MP (Bagerhat-3) Talukdar Abdul Khaleque inaugurated the mechanical excavation of the silted-up river in Shriphaltala area of the upazila on Wednesday.
Bangladesh Water Development Board Superintendent Engineer (Khulna Circle) Bazlur Rashid, Rampal upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) Abu Raf Mohammad Arif, BWDB executive engineer (Bagerhat) M Moinuddin and Rampal upazila parishad chairman Sheikh Abu Sayeed were present on the occasion.Recounting the good days of the Daudkhali River, spetagenarian Kashem Mollik of Shriphaltala village told UNB, “Big launches and boats used to ply the Daudkhali River barely a few years ago.
People used to cross the river on boats. The government built a bridge on the river in 2000.””The river began to die out 10 years back. It became a dead river due to lack of water flow seven to eight years back. Now the river has turned into a plain-land.
People now cross it on foot,” he gasped.Abdul Halim Mridha and Rabindra Nath of the same village narrated that the river had been silted up due to the lack of maintenance of a sluice gate built by the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) at Phaila and the uncontrolled shrimp farming by blocking the canals of the river.
Almost all the rivers and canals of the area have been silted up due to the shrimp farming and the obstacle created by the BWDB sluice gate and the agriculture in summer has greatly been affected due to lack of water, while a vast area becomes waterlogged during monsoon, they noted.
BWDB executive engineer M Moinuddin said they will excavate about 110 km stretch of water channels in two rivers and 14 canals flowing across Bagerhat and Khulna districts.
The rivers include the Daudkhali and the Old Pashur, while the canals include Katakhal, Daulatkhali Khal, Morgakhal, Moidwarichamot Kkhal, Ghona Khal, Borguna Khal, Belai Khal, Urubuniar Khal, Joukhali Khal, Jugikhali Khal, Chulkathi Khal, Gabkhali Khal, Abbari Khal and Giletla Khal.Excavation of the 15 km stretch of the Daudkhali River under this programme will cost about Tk 8.10 crore, he added.
The channel of the Daudkhali River will be excavated upto 50 metres in width at the mouth of the river and 5-11 metres in depth, he noted.
