Resolve acute water crisis created by power plant
Demand people of 10 Barapukuria villages
Villagers around Barapukuria power plant under Parbatipur upazila of Dinajpur stage a demonstration yesterday alleging that 14 high powered water pumps of the plant lift water from underground round the clock, creating acute water crisis in ten villages.Photo: STAR
Villagers around Barapukuria power plant yesterday staged a protest, alleging that they had been suffering from water crisis due to the plant's operation. Sources said, the plant in Parbatipur upazila requires at least 1300 tonnes water per hour to generate power. The authorities set up 24 high-powered water pumps at Sherpur village and 14 of them operate round the clock to pull the water from underground every day. Villagers say that excessive use of underground water has created water crisis in the surrounding villages as the tubewells have dried up there in the recent months. Yesterday, several thousand people of 10 villages including Dudhipukur, Rambhadrapur and Sherpur villages gathered in front of the power plant to protest the water crisis, allegedly due to the power plant. Pani O Bidyut Sangram Parishad, a body of the affected villagers organised the demonstration. Demanding a permanent solution to their problem, the villagers holding banners and festoons, formed a human chain at around 11:30am which continued till 1:00pm. The participants also demanded power connection to the villages around the power plant. The human chain was followed by a protest rally at the same venue. At the rally, the villagers alleged that the 14 high-powered water pumps were drawing 1200 to 1300 metric tonnes of water every hour from underground to generate power. The tubewells in villages went out of order as the water tables fell further due to this, they said. The protesters also threatened to launch a greater agitation if their demands were not met within a reasonable time. Later, the leaders of the parishad handed over a memorandum in this regard to the Chief Engineer of the power plant. Monzurul Haque, chief engineer of Barapukuria 250MW Power Plant, said they had arranged water supply to affected villagers when the water crisis was noticed in 2009. "But as the water demand went up in the recent times, we are now trying our best to find a way out," he told this correspondent.
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