Around 1,500 bighas of land of Chanchra Harina Beel (water body) in Jashore Sadar upazila remain out of the purview of Aman cultivation as a section of local influential people has turned it into a haven for fish cultivation. More than 25 fish enclosures have been set up in the paddy fields at the Saraghuto part of the beel. The influential people have also dug out the soil of the cropland to facilitate fish cultivation hampering natural outflow of water. The newly planted Aman paddy seedlings in some parts of the water body have rotted due to waterlogging. Farmers have not been able to plant Aman saplings even in Rupdia, a part adjacent to Kalabaga of the beel, due to knee-deep water. The affected farmers said that the water of Jashore town flows through the Harina Beel during the monsoon season. Later, this water falls into the Mukteshwari river through ‘Zia Khal’ dug through the beel. But for the last few years, a number of unplanned fish enclosures have been created disrupting the free flow of water creating perennial waterlogging. Heavy rains often inundate the five villages surrounding the beel. IRRI and Ropa Aman used to be cultivated in the beel even a few years ago. But for the last two years, about 20 to 25 big and small fish enclosures have been created in Harina Beel. Currently, about 1500 bighas of land are under water. Md Shahjahan, a farmer from Uttar Bhaturia village in Chanchra, said that he planted Aman paddy on five bighas of land in the Beel this season.
“My land was submerged as the rain water could not get out of the beel due to the fish enclosures,” he said. He said, last year in the Aman season, he got 75 maunds of paddy from the five bigha. Matiar Rahman, a farmer from the same area, said that his 10 bighas of land in the beel have been inundated. Due to the fish enclosures, the flow of water in the Zia canal of the beel has been stopped. As a result, the paddy seedlings of his 10 bighas of land have rotted this time. Most of the people on the shores of Harina Beel have no land anywhere except in the beel. The crops of this land are their only means of survival. Anil Ghosh of Uttar Bhaturia village said, influential people of Jashore town are leasing some land in Harina Beel and buying some land for fish cultivation. Even those who have land next to the fish enclosures are being pressurized in various ways to sell out their lands to them. Jashore Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) SM Munim Lincoln said if any complaint is received, legal action will be taken after investigation. Deputy Director of the District Agriculture Extension Department Badal Chandra Biswas said, “As soon as I heard the matter I instructed the upazila agriculture officer to solve the matter through the local people’s representatives.” No work can be done hampering cultivation on agricultural land, he said, adding that a list is being made to assess the amount of land lost due to waterlogging in Harina Bill.
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