Farmers in Dakshin Surma suffering due to waterlogging
Sylhet Correspondent :
The main occupation of the people of Dakshin Surma upazila of Sylhet district is agriculture. The soil of the area is naturally fertile.
Therefore, various types of crops including paddy, wheat, jute, mustard, lentils, and corn are produced here throughout the year. But since most of the canals have been filled for a long time, thousands of farmers and ordinary people are suffering due to irrigation and waterlogging in agricultural land.
In order to protect crops from waterlogging and cultivate during the dry season, in the financial year 2024-25, 8 canal digging programs were started in 8 unions of Dakshin Surma upazila under the management of the Department of Agricultural Extension, Sylhet, with the funding of BADC.
In December last year, the canal digging program was inaugurated by S M Anik Chowdhury, Executive Officer of South Surma Upazila, at Azmat Pur, Jalalpur, in the upazila.The excavation of other canals including Lalabazar, Daudpur will be completed this year.
The excavated dead canals have now regained their youth. As a result of the excavation of the Marakhal canals that had lost their navigability, hundreds of hectares of land on both banks of the canals have come under irrigation facilities.
As a result of the natural flow of water, waterlogging has been resolved and irrigation facilities have become easier, which has brought smiles to the faces of thousands of farmer families and millions of people in the upazila. As a result, they have now dreamed of more crops.
It can be seen that a kind of joy prevails among the people of all classes of the area due to the increase in the flow of water due to the excavation of the canals in this agriculturally dominated area.
There is a gurgling sound in the flowing clear water. And that is what makes them happy. It is as if they have not seen this flow of water for a long time.
So they are weaving new dreams in the water of this canal. Especially the joy of the people on the banks of the canal was a little more. They are also very happy that water is easily available for the daily use of the women of the family, including the agricultural work of the farmers in the area.
Rabindra Nath, a farmer from Jalalpur, said that he could not grow crops due to lack of water. Since the canal was dry, he used to bring water from a distance with the help of an irrigation pump and cultivate one crop a year. This would have cost a lot.
Also, water was not available on time. Now, as a result of digging this dead canal, the water flow has increased. As a result, the water problem has been solved. Now, by using the canal water in the land, we can cultivate Rabi crops as well as Eri-Boro crops. I hope that this time our luck will change.
Najab Ali, a farmer from the same area, said that at one time, the people of five villages in this area were dependent on the water of this canal for all kinds of work, including agricultural work.
But due to not digging it for a long time, the canal filled up. As a result, just as there was a shortage of water for agricultural work, on the contrary, water stagnated in the land during the rainy season, creating waterlogging. This has reached the peak of people’s suffering. Now, the digging of the canal has benefited the people of the area in all their work, including agricultural work.
Dakshin Surma Upazila Agriculture Officer Gautam Pal said that 8.1 km long canals have already been dug through Bhabhali-1 and Bhabhali-2 in Jalalpur, South Surma. Next week, canal digging work will also start in Daudpur Union. As a result of digging these canals, crop production in the concerned areas will increase, as well as the conservation of local fish species and the demand will be met.
Dakshin Surma Upazila Executive Officer S M Anik Chowdhury said that as a result of digging these canals, crop production will increase by reducing the use of groundwater and using surface water for crop production, as well as strengthening the country’s food security.
Canal digging programms will be carried out continuously to increase the production of all types of crops in Dakshin Surma.
