Waterlogging for not dredging canals, unplanned pond digging : : Thousands of bighas of land remain uncultivated in Puthia
Rakibul Hasan Rocky, Puthia (Rajshahi)
In Puthia Upazila of Rajshahi, illegal land classification changes, unplanned pond digging on three-crop agricultural land, and failure to dig canals in the upazila for a long time have resulted in waterlogging, leaving about 1,000 bighas of land uncultivated and abandoned. This has affected not only farmers but also agricultural production.
In addition, it was seen during a tour of the upazila that in the last 10 years, in Bhalukgachhi, Jiupara, and Shilmaria unions, due to the digging of ponds on arable land, agricultural land has been reduced by more than half. In some places, ponds have been dug even after closing the mouths of canals and beels. Again, in many places, government khas land has not been taken into account. In some places, ponds have been made by encroaching on government land. Again, some people have built houses by encroaching on canals. The situation is more or less the same in every union of the upazila. Incidents like clashes are sometimes seen in connection with these encroachments and pond digging. And ordinary farmers want the canal beels to be rescued and dug as soon as possible. This will benefit the farmers and the people of the country.
Rezaul Karim, a resident of Bhalukgachhi area, said, "I demand the government to dig canals very quickly and stand by the farmers. Because in this area, 2 to 300 bighas of land lie uncultivated in about two bills. But earlier all kinds of crops were grown on these lands. Now due to waterlogging, crops are no longer grown. Another person named Firoz said that the process of rescuing and digging the canals should be started very quickly. In addition, local farmers of each area also strongly demanded that the canals be dug.
In this regard, Puthia Upazila Executive Officer Liakat Salman said that the relevant departments of the upazila are working on this issue. Also, no ponds will be allowed to be dug by changing the category in the coming season.
