Water stagnation has grasped 40,864 hectares of land in the southwestern region in the past 43 years while a scientific study feared the water logging to engulf more areas, attributing the phenomenon to reduced upstream flow in the cross-border rivers.
Bangladesh Space Research and Remote Sensing Organization (SPARRSO) earlier this week released a study report, saying it found the areas under water logging grew by eight times in between 1973 and 2016 severely affecting agriculture in particular.
“The flow from the upper riparian regions dwindled, resulting in increased influx of sediments from the sea heightening river beds and disrupting the natural balance of tides and ebb tides,” SPARSSO member AZM Zahedul Islam, who led the government-funded study, told BSS.
He added: “This phenomenon is eventually diminishing the rivers’ capacity to flush out silts causing the water logging, which is gradually aggravating over the past three decades.”
The state-run SPARRSO, which is tasked to study and apply space technology for meteorology, agro-climatic conditions and water resources, found that some 6,279 hectares of land was exposed to water stagnation in 1973 while it rose to 47,143 hectares in 2016.
The study, which SPARRSO released last week, said 17 percent landmass of 11 upazilas of Jessore, Khulna and Satkhira districts are now exposed to the curses of water logging.
