Editorial
Recovering submerged land
The Bhabadah success is highly encouraging and should be replicated
PEOPLE in 100 villages in three upazilas of Jessore district have got a new lease of life, thanks to the recovery of arable land that remained under water for 18 years. They are now looking forward to a bumper boro harvest which will alleviate their prolonged sufferings caused by water logging over 16,00 hectares of land. The members of the 55 Bengal Regiment stationed in Jessore Cantonment have succeeded in removing stagnant water from vast areas and with that the affected people have got back their only means of survivalcultivable land. It has indeed been a commendable effort and we praise our army for it.
What is really surprising is that successive governments and the Water Development Board failed to do anything to mitigate the sufferings of the people in Bhabadah area in 18 years and they were caught in what looked like an unending poverty cycle. The project for clearing the stagnant water over a vast marshy area was finally approved in 2006-07 and the army was assigned the job of recovering the submerged land.
The Bhabadah success should be an eye opener to the planners in the Water Development Board and also the agriculture department. It has proved that the problem of water logging and cultivable land being submerged due to silting of riverbeds and other water bodies can be resolved through excavation of the rivers. The Bhabadah example does indicate that even a gigantic task can be accomplished if an appropriate action plan is adopted.
Similar problems exist in many places of the country where people are finding it extremely difficult to deal with adverse natural conditions and changes, on their own. Of course, expertise and adequate logistic support are necessary to recover submerged land. But what is needed more than anything else is the willingness to work relentlessly to render the much needed service to humanity in distress. We believe the members of the army have set such an example in Jessore. It has once again brought to the fore the worrisome truth that our rivers are getting silted up in the absence of river training programmes, which leads not only to loss of navigability but also creates the kind of situation witnessed in Bhabadah.
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