Procession, Sit-in, Rally in Satkhira
'Re-excavate Kobadak to resolve water logging problem in 3 dists'
Leaders and activists of 'Kobadak Bachao Andolon', a newly floated civic body, brought out a procession and held a sit-in the town, demanding re-excavation of the silted river to solve the persisting water logging problem in the area.
They brought out the procession from Shaheed Ala Uddin Chattar. Parading the main thoroughfares of the town the processionists held a sit-in front of the DC's office. They also held a brief rally there with Advocate Mustafa Lutfullah in the chair.
Workers party president Rashed Khan Menon was the chief guest while the rally was addressed by Kobadak Bachao Andolon convener Anil Biswas, Iqbal Kabir Zahid and Aminul Islam Golap.
Rashed Khan Menon said, over 5 lakh people in Satkhira, Khulna and Jessore living on the bank of Kobadak have been suffering for long due to persisting water logging as the authorities never took steps to excavate the silted river for ensuring normal water flow.
He urged the government to connect the Kobadak with the Padma by excavating Mathabhanga point in Kushtia. It will help create normal water flow and solve the water logging problem, he said.
He said that the government recently sanctioned over Tk. 161 crore to re-excavate the river. However, he suggested army to do the job to make it corruption free.
"This is not a problem of a year, rather it is a problem of years in the region. Whenever there is rain there is water logging as the river has silted up", he said.
The other speakers said that flooding recurs every year with spiraling ferocity as the river is drying up at many points.
They said only a united effort by elites and politicians in the region could save the river.
They called to fulfill their four-point demand -- steps to drain out river water during the rainy season, demolition of all illegal structures in the river to save the river from grabbers, putting demarcation boundary of the river and dredging of the river and linking it with the upstream of Mathabhanga through excavation.
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