Dam between two beels floods cropland in Bhurungamari

Aminur Babu, Bhurungamari (Kurigram)

Due to the creation of a pond making dam between Bherbheri Beel and Bausmari Beel of Joymonirhat Union in Bhurungamari Upazila of the district, about 200 bighas of land of about 100 people have been flooded.

Even in the last stage of the Aman season, due to this waterlogging, paddy seedlings cannot be planted. The owners of the land are going from door to door of the administration in the hope of justice. But there is no solution.

It is known that the water of Bherbheri Beel located in Joymonirhat Union of the upazila falls into the Bakni River through the lateral Bausmari Beel. Recently, a valiant freedom fighter of that area Habibur Rahman, and his younger brother Shahadat Hossain Master built a dam between the two beels and started fish farming. Since the water flow of Bherbheri Beel has been closed for this reason, about 200 bighas of cropland located in upstream of the dam have been flooded. As a result, all those landowners are in trouble for not being able to plant saplings.

The land owners Raich Uddin, Abdul Majid, Shariful Alam, and Jobair Hossain said that they have not been able to plant saplings so far due to the subsidence of the land. If they cannot cultivate paddy, they will die from hunger. All of their land is under water due to dam construction. They have not been able to plant a bunch of paddies yet.

Mentioning that they will have to face extreme hardship, widow Maleka Begum, 55, requested for a solution to the incident. In this connection, a complaint signed by 44 people on behalf of the residents was given to the Upazila Nirbahi Officer, Agriculture Officer, and local Police Station, but as the matter has not been resolved so far, they are worried about planting paddy seedlings.

Joymonirhat UP Chairman Abdul Wadud said, “I visited the spot during the dam construction. The dam makers then promised to build the dam keeping aside the place for laying pipe. But they did not keep their promise. As a result of this dam, hundreds of bighas of land have been flooded.”

When contacted with the valiant freedom fighter Habibur Rahman, he said, “I have made the dam for paddy and fish farming. Still, on the advice of the UP chairman, I agreed to install a pipe beside the pond for water drainage. But later they did not communicate with me.”

In this connection, UNO Deepak Kumar Deb Sharma said, “After receiving the complaint, the Upazila Agriculture Officer has been given the responsibility to resolve it. As far as I know, the issue is resolved.”

Upazila Agriculture Officer (Acting) Shah Md. Apple Mahmud said, “We have called both parties together with the Upazila Livestock Officer and tried to resolve the matter but it was not possible to resolve it. This matter has been informed to the UNO.”

Ruhul Amin, officer-in-charge of Bhurungamari Police Station, said, “After receiving the complaint, we sent police three times to the spot and tried to settle the matter. We are still trying to resolve it.”