Villagers join hands as appeals to govt ignored
Remove silt from Kobadak riverbed in Tala to resolve water-logging
Villagers from 12 unions in Tala upazila are doing a great job voluntarily. They are removing silt from Kobadak riverbed to free the area from persistent water-logging as repeated appeals to dredge the river to remove the problem were ignored by authorities. It was a different scene at Gopalpur in the area yesterday. People of all classesstudents, teachers, farmers and poor day labourers --were removing silt from the riverbed. Over 75,000 people in Sarulia, Kumira, Nagarghata, Tentulia, Magura, Khalishkhali, Kheshra, Jalalpur, Khalilnagar, Islamkati and Tala Sadar unions remained marooned and crops on thousand of acres damaged due to water-logging during the rainy season every year. As repeated appeals failed, all Union Parishad leaders in the area held a meeting with Satkhira Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Kefayetullah on August 15 at his office to find a way to resolve the problem. The meeting decided to prepare programmes locally to remove the silt. The DC asked Tala Upazila Nirbahi officer UNO to convene a meeting of all concerned. On August 16, Tala UNO Md.Waliullaha convened a meeting of UP chairmen and leaders of local NGOs. The meeting decided to do the job voluntarily, Magura UP chairman Prof Sabbir Hossain said. As per a decision of the meeting, silt from 15 kilometres of Kobadak riverbed from Tala to Dhandia will be removed. The villagers have been divided into several groups and they are working alternately, Tala UNO Md.Waliullaha told this correspondent. “Villagers have removed silt from about eight kilometers of the riverbed from Tala to Gopalpur till today”, the UNO said yesterday. “Over 6000 people are taking part in the work on self-help basis”, Satkhira DC Md. Kefayetullah said. The work is expected to be completed by August 24, said Abu Musa, aofficial of local NGO Uttaran. People of the area, along with scores of others in 28 unions in Kobadak river basin in Satkhira and Jessore are suffering from water-logging problem as the river has become silted, preventing flood and rain water to be drained out. Earlier, several appeals by the Union Parishad (UP) Forum leaders, Kabodak Bachao Andolon and local people were made to Water Development Board (WDB) for re-excavation of silted Kabodak. Water-logging is a persistent problem in the area. Like in the previous years, about two lakh people in Kobadak basin area are marooned for about two months since onset of monsoon this year as outlets are clogged. Over the years, Kobadak has become silted and lost its water retention capacity. It has made life of the people miserable, affecting agriculture. Some local people talking to this correspondent alleged that before elections, political leaders promised to take steps to re-excavate silted Kabodak. Once the election was over, they were never seen, they claimed.
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