Shrimp farm owners of Khulna are digging up dams to direct saline water to their enclosures, endangering the embankments and increasing flood risks.
While visiting Koyra upazila of the district, this correspondent found embankments have been dug up in several areas and waters of Kopotakkho, Shakbaria and Koyra rivers are being redirected to shrimp enclosures with PVC pipes.
Vast areas of the upazila surrounded by the three rivers are flooded almost every year due to embankment erosion. Disregarding the risks, some shrimp farm owners are damaging the embankment for their own gain.
The embankments renovated by Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) are also at risk of being eroded by the rivers. Concerned locals are worried about severe floods in the region.
During the visit, it was found that PVC pipes have been installed at about 50 places by digging holes in the three-kilometre embankment of Kopotakkho River from Dashalia to Hogla of the upazila.
Water is being supplied to the shrimp farming area through these pipes. The newly repaired embankment in front of some enclosures has also become vulnerable.
Not only in Dashalia, but similar things have been done in over 300 places of Hogla, Madinabad Launchghat, Loka, Mathbari, Gazipara of Koyra, Gobra, Ghatakhali, Harinkhola. However, in some areas, water is being pumped through pipes over the embankment.
One such shrimp farm owner who dug up an embankment to supply water to his enclosure on condition of anonymity said, those who own lands by the saline water river embankments have no other choice but to build enclosures as crops do not grow there.
“Crops get destroyed when the rivers overflow anyway. We have to struggle to survive. The only option is to build a permanent embankment instead of these temporary ones. That way everyone will benefit,” he added.
Bidesh Ranjan Mridha, president of the Koyra Development Coordination Committee, said riverbank soil is washed away during the tides due to water being supplied to the enclosures.
“Local public representatives and leaders of various political parties are involved in shrimp farming. They build large enclosures by leasing land near the river. Although there is a directive of the Prime Minister about not enclosing saltwater within 100 metres of an embankment, it is not being implemented,” he said, adding that BWDB has not taken any visible initiative to remove the pipes.
Md Mostafizur Rahman, vice president of Deyara Paschimpara Ekota Sangha, said, “We have been severely affected by the saltwater inundation due to the embankment collapse. Thousands of fruit and forest trees have died after being flooded several times.”
“We face flood continually before recovering from the damage of the previous ones. However, due to the non-sustainability of embankments, locals are unable to build freshwater fish enclosures despite their will,” he added.
Ashraful Alam, the executive engineer of BWDB Khulna-2, said there should be no enclosure within 100 metres of an embankment.
“Since we do not own the lands by the embankments, we cannot implement the initiative. However, we can take action against those who damage the embankments by digging holes in them,” he said.
He added that Koyra area was under the jurisdiction of Satkhira BWDB but only recently was put under the authority of Khulna-2 BWDB. He further said that legal action would be taken by making a list of those who are illegally destroying embankments.
Damages during natural disasters
Due to Cyclone Yaas on May 26, 2021, large areas of Dashalia were inundated as embankments collapsed in two places.
Angtihara, Beenapani area of Shakbaria River in South Bedkashi Union of Koyra Upazila, Gatirgheri, Padmapukur area of the same river in North Bedkashi Union, Tetultala, Choukni, Shinger Char area of Koyra River in Maheshwaripur Union, Pobna and Mathbari area of the same river in Maharajpur Union and Kopotakkho River embankment in Dashalia area of the river collapsed.
Previously during Cyclone Aila, the embankments collapsed in Dashalia and Pobna, inundating the areas with saline water. After Cyclone Aila, some areas were submerged in salty sea water for about five years.
BWDB repaired the embankments but they are being damaged again due to digging holes in them.
Earlier, the Koyra upazila protection embankment collapsed during Cyclone Amphan and flooded about half a hundred villages. The upazila is free from brackish water after about eight months.
