Bhabadah awaits disaster
Frustrated over alleged inaction of the local administration, residents of Bhabadah waterlogging area of Jessore yesterday formed a human chain in front of the capital's Jatiya Press Club, demanding prime minister's intervention for a permanent solution to the perennial problem.
They also shared their sufferings caused by waterlogging and sought action against police officials who charged baton on the peaceful demonstration they had arranged on October 5 in Noyapara for a solution to the crisis.
Over a hundred people of Bhabadah area which covers Abhaynagar, Manirampur and Keshabpur upazilas along with the people of the upazilas living in Dhaka took part in the human chain organised by “Bhabadah Pani Nishkashon Sangram Committee”.
They demanded the government install three more excavators for immediate water drainage and implement Tidal River Management (TRM) in Beel Kapalia of Manirampur."If the TRM is not initiated before Magh, there will be another disaster in Bhabadah area," said Baikuntha Bihari Roy, committee coordinator.
He said Bhabadah area saw a huge production of rice after the construction of sluice gate in the Teka-Mukteshwari river in the early 60s. But people started to experience waterlogging problem in the early 80s and things went worse in 2005 after shutting down of the sluice gate for several days in 2004, he said.
The government implemented the TRM project in Beel Khukhshia in 2006 and people then got a temporary relief until the project ended in 2013, Baikuntha said. After the suspension of TRM, he said, they started facing the problem, which turned acute this year after the heavy rain. "Things were so bad that there was no place to bury or cremate the dead.”
The TRM is a natural water management process that local people initiated in the 80s, where beels (water bodies) are connected to the river so that large volumes of water can flow into them during tidal upsurge and retreats leaving sediment in the beels, thus keeping the river alive.
Iqbal Kabir Jahid, chief adviser of the committee, said the Bhabadah sluice gate was "a duck that laid golden eggs" and the leaders of the political parties whichever remained in power, some contractors and a section of officials were the beneficiaries of the eggs.
He demanded removing of the sluice gate in Bhabadah and connect Teka-Mukteshwari river with upstream Mathabhanga-Bhairab river.
Workers Party of Bangladesh General Secretary Fazle Hossain Badsha, MP, said the saddest part was when the waterlogged people tried to raise their voice, they faced torture from police. "If they need to come to Dhaka to press their demand, we have to understand that there is no administration in Jessore," he said.
Ranjit Bawali, convenor of the committee, also spoke.
After the human chain, the committee submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister's Office.
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