Encroachment on Ziarkhal
Re-excavation begins
In a bid to resolve waterlogging problem and ensure natural flow of freshwater, Natore's Naldanga upazila administration has started the re-excavation work of Ziarkhal canal yesterday.
Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Sharmin Akter Jahan and Naldanga Upazila Parishad Chairman Sakhawat Hossain jointly inaugurated the digging programme in the morning, in presence of a thousand local farmers.
Mindless encroachment has stopped the natural water flow of the 20-kilometre-long canal that connects with Halti Beel (a local water body).
Farmers of at least 20 villages, who cultivate hundreds of hectares of land along the canal, had been facing irrigation problem for want of re-excavation of the canal, Dewan Amzad Hossain, a local UP chairman, said.
Due to the waterlogged condition, hundreds of hectares of land in those villages still remained uncultivated this year, Amzad added.
Chairman Sakhawat Hossain said about 1,000 hectares of land were uncultivated during the last boro season adding that the situation possibly will change this year.
The re-excavation will resolve the problem temporarily and they will send a proposal to the ministry concerned for a permanent solution of the situation, said Natore Deputy Commissioner Shahina Khatun.