About 40 villages in Bagerhat's Kachuar Badhal, Raripara, Gopalpur and Morelganj's Banagram unions have become waterless. The water of the canals and ponds in Morrelganj upazila dried up as the water could not enter the Bishkhali river for excavation. Locals, including fish and paddy farmers, are suffering due to lack of water.
Despite informing several times to the Water Development Board (WDB) to resolve the water crisis, the situation has been going on for about four to five months without any result.
Later, hundreds of men and women from different areas started cutting the embankment in Kachua upazila at the junction of Baleshwar and Bishkhali rivers on Wednesday. Badhal Union Parishad Chairman Nakib Faisal Ahid, Union Awami League President Kotwal Ilias Ali and many others were present on the occasion. After a few hours of effort, they were able to cut the embankment in the afternoon and normalize the water entery.
Abu Raihan Mohammad Al-Biruni, executive engineer of Bagerhat WDB, claimed that there would be some problem in the excavation work due to the sudden cutting of the embankment. The excavation work will be very difficult due to the cutting of the dam. It will be difficult to complete the work on time.
According to sources, the WDB took initiative to dredge 23.37 kilometers of the dead Bishkhali river flowing through Morrelganj and Kachua of the district. Excavation began in October 2023 at a cost of Tk 43 crore. Since then, multiple obstacles have been put up in some places including Bishkhali River dam, Purba Bishkhali to complete the excavation work. As a result, 40 villages became waterless.
ZH
