About ten thousand acres of agricultural land in two villages of Barguna’s Amtali upazila were finally saved from inundation after five illegal dams, built 10 years ago, on a public canal were removed on August 13. Aman cultivation on the agricultural land, in Haldia and Gurudal villages, became uncertain as the croplands and nearby homes of several thousand villagers did remain submerged by overflowing water from the dams built to cultivate fish in Kaunia canal.
Kaunia canal runs through Haldia and Gurudal villages in the upazila and ends in the Julekha area having five sluice gates. Nearly ten years ago, an influential local blocked the canal’s water flow by illegally building five dams and closing off a culvert on it to cultivate fish. When the man started commercial fish cultivation there, croplands and houses in a vast area started to go under water due to the obstruction created on the canal. After heavy rain over the past few days, water overflowing the canal flooded nearly ten thousand acres of agricultural land and most of the houses in Haldia and Gurudal villages. Unable to cultivate the submerged croplands, the farming community in the villages was bracing for huge losses this Aman season.
A number of the affected farmers filed a written complaint with the Amtali UNO demanding removal of the obstructions from Kaunia canal. And the action to remove the illegal dams on the Kaunia canal followed. The local government authorities should take immediate steps against the encroachers elsewhere in the country. There are thousands of such encroachers who directly and indirectly threaten people’s living and livelihood across the country. According to statistics, the country had about 700 rivers four decades ago but today only about 400 rivers do exist. At the time of Bangladesh’s liberation, the total length of perennial rivers routes was 24,000 kilometers which now has reduced to little more than 3,000 kilometers.
Saving water bodies and rivers is an uphill task. In most cases, encroachers and polluters are politically and financially influential persons. Such an uphill battle can only be won if there is a strong political commitment and social movement to save rivers and water bodies.
