The once-flowing Baleshwar River is now dying. The river is now covered in piles of sedge. It seems that no one has seen the river’s pitiful condition for years. Thousands of farmers on the banks of the river are in trouble. They are facing extreme hardships in farming and transporting their products. The locals have sought the intervention of the concerned authorities to resolve the issue.
It was observed during a field visit that the Baleshwar River flows along the border of Chitalmari Upazila of Bagerhat. On the other side is Nazirpur Upazila of Pirojpur. Various crops including paddy and vegetables have been extensively cultivated on the land along the Baleshwar River.
Since the families here are dependent on agriculture, they are involved in agriculture all year round. Thousands of farmers from about 10-12 villages in the area rely on this river for their farming. As a result, the river is their only hope for agriculture. But for many years, a char has been lying in the heart of Baleshwar. No initiative has been taken to dig it. On the one hand, due to the lack of water in the river during the dry season, farmers face extreme hardship in irrigation work, and on the other hand, due to the accumulation of silt on the riverbed during the rainy season, navigation and the bringing and taking of goods are stopped.
Farmers are having to bear additional expenses to sell their produce in the market. Besides, families who used to earn their living by fishing in the river are now in a pitiful condition. Now the local people are demanding their lives and it is necessary to save the farmers by dredging the Baleshwar River quickly.
In this regard, many farmers including local farmers Mukund Bawali, Anand Bala, Animesh Bagchi expressed their anger and said, “I have only heard that Baleshwar will be excavated, but ages have passed and no government has taken the initiative to excavate it. The suffering of the farmers here is endless. If the river were excavated, there would be a huge development in agriculture and navigation. They demanded that the government excavate it.”
Pankaj Roy, organizing secretary of Chitalmari Upazila Krishak Samity, said that once upon a time, launch-steamers used to ply on the Baleshwar River. There was communication with the country and abroad through the river from here. The once bustling Baleshwar is now in a pitiful state. Hundreds of districts used to earn their living by fishing from this river. Now the river has become a char. There are piles of kachuripana across the river. The tides do not flow properly. Especially the farmers on the banks of the river are now in a dying state. He demanded that urgent steps be taken to resolve the issue.
In this regard, Upazila Agriculture Officer Sifat Al Maruf said that there is a need to dredge the Baleshwar River for agricultural work. The farmers here are dependent on this river. On the one hand, there is no water in the river during the irrigation season, and on the other hand, the farmers suffer due to the water not being drained properly during the rainy season. In addition, the river has now become unusable for transportation even for bringing and receiving agricultural products.
In this regard, Jayanta Pal, Executive Engineer of Bagerhat District Water Development Board, said that initiatives have been taken to dig several canals in the district, but the excavation of Baleshwar will be informed to the concerned ministry. Measures are being taken to ensure that the issue of cleaning the river’s silt is done quickly.
