Editorial
Violence over river management project
Local people should have been taken along
The mayhem over a tidal river management (TRM) project in Jessore has been very unsettling and distressful. We don't understand why a development project which is supposed to bring respite to several hundred farmers should have been such a stormy non-starter. As we understand it, Water Development Board (WDB) decided to construct an embankment to resolve the lingering water-logging problem in Bil Kapalia and increase navigability of rivers at the same time. When Jatiya Sangsad Whip Sheikh Abdul Wahab was going to inaugurate it on Saturday, fish traders reportedly opposing the project attacked his motorcade, torched vehicles and injured many. Later, people mustering support for the project blocked Jessore-Khulna highway, and torched buses, several shops and houses in retaliation. They also protested police inaction.
Evidently, it is a project that was going to directly affect one way or the other the livelihoods of several thousand people, especially the farmers and fish cultivators who depend on Bil Kapalia, a large water body, for their bread and butter. It also has to do with the environment and overall ecology and geo-morphology of the area-i.e. flooding, soil fertilization and fish cultivation.
We expect that such an important project was conceived on a sound scientific basis and if it was so done, why were the project details not shared with local body representatives and the communities involved? As it turned out, a considerably large section of the people was not consulted and brought in the loop before taking up the project. The net result was the imposition of a project leading to destruction of public and private properties and an apparent setback to the project.
Construction in a water body is a serious environmental issue which must be preceded by a thorough assessment of its impact on the habitat and the lives of the people inhabiting the area. Therefore, advice and opinion must be sought from environmental and hydrological experts. Once the expert opinions are obtained, it devolves upon the authorities to disseminate them so that people are aware and convinced of the necessity of it. We can only regret the entire handling of the project.
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