Villagers of Manaharpur at Shailkupa upazila in Jhenidah cleared an irrigation canal for smooth irrigation water supply on Sunday.
After completion of the work, the villagers took Asar prayer in the local mosque thanking the Almighty for this sort of activities and distributed cooked rice Khichuri.
Visiting Manaharpur, Bijulia and Khalkula villages in the upazila, the correspondent witnessed that about 200 villagers irrespective of age have been clearing waste, garbage and water hyacinth from the irrigation canal titled as T-8, 9 and 10 under secondary 9/K of Ganges-Kobadak project.
The people engaged in clearing the irrigation canal said three tertiary canals under the secondary canal S-9K was supposed to supply irrigation water on about 5,600 hectares of land at villages Khalkula, Pathanpara, Hetampur, Bijulia, Fazelpur and Manaharpur.
But the Ganges-Kobadak (GK) project authority under Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) has failed to ensure adequate irrigation water for the lands for three crops a year.
Team leader of S-9/K irrigation canal management committee Mia Rasheedul Hasan said that the villagers proved that no honest and sincere work goes in vain when the people start it with united efforts.
Although no official was present during the canal clearing, a field level extension overseer Talukder Lokman Hossain stood by them till completion of the work like his regular responsibility. Resume of irrigation water supply in the “blocked or almost dead irrigation canal” brought ray of smile on the faces of the farmers when they witnessed it themselves.
Section Officer (SO) of the project at Shailkupa sub division Bikarna Kumar said that they could not go to the spot as he along with the senior officials were very busy at their executive engineer office in Jhenidah in designing plan for the betterment for the farmers of the project area.
