Re-excavate Kobadak river, save Satkhira

A partial view of the meeting after a sit-in held near Patkelghata bridge at Tala in Satkhira on Friday, demanding re-excavation of the Kobadak river. Photo: Star

The programmes, held on Thursday last, were organised by Patkelghata Bachao Andolon Parshad (Movement to save Patkeghata).

The sit-in on the bridge beginning at noon crated a long traffic jam on the Khulna-Satkhira road.

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People from all walks of life joined big procession and paraded roads in the area including Patkelghata bazaar and later held a rally near the bridge.

Shaikh Jahurul Islam, convenor the newly formed Patkelghata Bachao Andolon Parishad, presided over the rally.

It was addressed by, among others, BNP leader and former state minister Syed Didar Bakht, Tala thana BNP President A B M Altaf Hossain, Awami League leader Sheikh Nurul Islam, JSD leader AK Azad, Workers Party leader advocate Mustafa Lutfullah Islam, Jatiya Party leader SM Alauddin, journalists Kalyan Bannerjee and Ramkrishna Chakraborty and Abdul Hossain, director of local NGO Setu.

The speakers said Patheghata, once a big business centre, is losing importance as river vessels can not reach there because the Kobadak is being silted.

The silted river is also creating pollution in the area, they said.

Farmers are the worst sufferers as the river dries up during winter, hampering irrigation and floods the entire Tala upazila in wet season.

They urged the authorities concerned to re-excavate the river to save the people.