Procession, rally for smooth water, power supply
Residents of Gangadharpatti and Banagram in Manikganj town bring out a procession yesterday demanding smooth supply of power and water and solution to drainage problem in the area.Photo: STAR
Several hundred people including women held procession, rally yesterday in the district town demanding smooth water, power and gas supply. The agitators also threatened to lay siege to the local power office and municipality building if their problems are not resolved soon. The dwellers of Gangadhorpotty and Banagram led by former commissioner Ratan Majumder brought out a procession and held a rally in front of the local press club at noon demanding sufficient water and power supply in the town. District AL general secretary Gazi Kamrul Huda Selim, Ratan Majumder, Sarkar Masud and Rina Akter, among others, addressed the rally. They said residents of the district town have been suffering much due to disruption in water and power supply. The municipality authorities supplied water only once or twice a week during the last few weeks, they said. They later submitted a memo to the municipal mayor to meet their demands without further delay. Boro cultivation is being hampered in the district as the farmers cannot irrigate their land timely due to persisting power crisis, reports UNB. Farmers apprehended that the target of boro production may not be achieved in the current season. Most of the lands are drying up for lack of irrigation causing frustration among the cultivators. Many farmers are using diesel run shallow machines in the power-run irrigation project. Sources said some 58,000 hectares of land have been brought under boro cultivation in the current season in the district exceeding the target of 55,000 hectares. Farmers said they brought more land under boro cultivation this season as price of rice is higher in the market than other crops. They said one forth of their boro land have dried up due to scorching heat and lack of irrigation. Agitated by persisting power crisis the farmers also demonstrated in the district town and upazila headquarters recently. Habul Mia, a farmer of Boilot village in Ghior upazila said, four bighas of boro land, out of 13, which he cultivated this season have been dried up for lack of irrigation.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments