Staff Reporter :
Over 10 lakh people of Bhabodah and its adjoining areas have been passing their days in a miserable condition due to acute water-logging caused by a sluice gate over the river Sri known as ‘Sorrow of Jessore’.
As the sluice gate constructed on the river Sri in Bhabodah area, it has become virtual dysfunctional due to surface of huge silt on the riverbed and canals. As a result, over 330 square kilometer areas remain under water permanently almost round the year, said people of the areas living in Dhaka at a human chain in front of the Jatiya Press Club in the city on Friday.
Besides, there are also 350 sluice gates in different upazilas of Khulna district, including a few ones near the city protection embankment. But a good number of them have already caved in and thus also threatening water-logging problem.
Under the banner ‘Committee to Solve Water-logging Problem’, the people of Abhoynagar, Monirampur and Keshobpur upazilas of Jessore in Dhaka demanded immediate solution of the water-logging problem due to the sluice gate.
They also sought Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s intervention in this regard to solve the problem.
Meanwhile, different types of food grains, including paddy, have already been destroyed in the area. Besides, fishes worth Tk 460 crore have been washed away from their ghers during the monsoon, they said.
Apart from these, they added, educational institutions, yards and even graveyards and crematories have remained submersed by waters almost permanently.
“Even our people are dying by snake bites.
We can’t arrange burial or cremation arrangements when our people die,” Modhu Sudhan, convener of the committee said.
The situation further worsened as the water can’t flow in absence of excavation and proper management of the water bodies, and thereby posing a threat to permanent water-logging in the area.
They stressed the need for immediate steps for excavating the silted up rivers and canals in the districts to restore their normal flow and keep the sluice gates functional.
Due to fund constraints, only a few of the rivers and canals in Jessore and Khulna districts are being dredged, Water Development Board officials said.
Over 10 lakh people of Bhabodah and its adjoining areas have been passing their days in a miserable condition due to acute water-logging caused by a sluice gate over the river Sri known as ‘Sorrow of Jessore’.
As the sluice gate constructed on the river Sri in Bhabodah area, it has become virtual dysfunctional due to surface of huge silt on the riverbed and canals. As a result, over 330 square kilometer areas remain under water permanently almost round the year, said people of the areas living in Dhaka at a human chain in front of the Jatiya Press Club in the city on Friday.
Besides, there are also 350 sluice gates in different upazilas of Khulna district, including a few ones near the city protection embankment. But a good number of them have already caved in and thus also threatening water-logging problem.
Under the banner ‘Committee to Solve Water-logging Problem’, the people of Abhoynagar, Monirampur and Keshobpur upazilas of Jessore in Dhaka demanded immediate solution of the water-logging problem due to the sluice gate.
They also sought Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s intervention in this regard to solve the problem.
Meanwhile, different types of food grains, including paddy, have already been destroyed in the area. Besides, fishes worth Tk 460 crore have been washed away from their ghers during the monsoon, they said.
Apart from these, they added, educational institutions, yards and even graveyards and crematories have remained submersed by waters almost permanently.
“Even our people are dying by snake bites.
We can’t arrange burial or cremation arrangements when our people die,” Modhu Sudhan, convener of the committee said.
The situation further worsened as the water can’t flow in absence of excavation and proper management of the water bodies, and thereby posing a threat to permanent water-logging in the area.
They stressed the need for immediate steps for excavating the silted up rivers and canals in the districts to restore their normal flow and keep the sluice gates functional.
Due to fund constraints, only a few of the rivers and canals in Jessore and Khulna districts are being dredged, Water Development Board officials said.
