Waterlogging has occurred again in the Bhabdaha area, known as the sorrow of Jessore. Meanwhile, thousands of people in several villages in the lower reaches of Abhaynagar, Keshabpur and Monirampur upazilas of Jessore district are living in dire straits due to waterlogging.
On Sunday and Monday, people from Andha, Bedvita, Dumurtala, Dahar Mashiyahati, Sundali, Chalishia, Sundali, Mashiyahati, Sarkhola and several other villages of Abhaynagar upazila of Bhabdaha area were seen making bamboo bridges on their backyards.
Cooking work has been seen to be done indoors, cattle have been taken to safe high places. Hundreds of fish ponds have even been washed away in these areas.
The fields of the educational institutions have been submerged in water. The locals are fearing a terrible waterlogging in the current season. They fear that they will have to leave their homes and take shelter on the streets like in 2016.
Residents of the affected areas further said, if such waterlogging occurs even after continuous rains this year, then what will be the situation here if it rains? I can’t think of that.
Hasan Ali Joyaddar, a resident of Bhabdaha area, told Jugantar that due to the whims of the Water Development Board (Paubo), part of the canals in these areas were dug unplanned and the other part was not completed.
He also complained that the waterlogging was becoming more permanent as the nets were not removed from the canals in the area and the fence owners were increasingly embanking the fence.
Samar Kumar Bawali, a resident of Dumurtala village in the upazila, said, “In the last three years, we have grown paddy in Eri, Boro and Aman seasons.” I have become self-sufficient by farming fish.
But this year, waterlogging has occurred due to non-removal of water from Amdanga canal, non-removal of net-pata of the canal and failure to properly remove silt from Shri and Hari rivers at Bhabdaha sluice gate.
The TRM project needs to be implemented to demand the lives of the people of Bhavadah affected by the waterlogging in the Bhavadah area. Many feel that it will be difficult to get rid of waterlogging if the TRM project is not implemented through the army.
In this regard, Abhaynagar Upazila Awami League general secretary Sardar Aliar Rahman told Jugantar that he was hopeful that the waterlogging in the Bhabdaha area would be removed if the TRM project was launched under the supervision of the army.
Tauhidul Islam, an engineer with the Water Development Board, told Jugantar that there is a big project with Bhabdaha, which is currently in the Planning Commission. At present, we are urgently doing something to prevent waterlogging in the Bhavadaha area.