Southwestern region: A neglected part in Bangladesh
Dr. Syed Nesar Ahmad Rumy :
The south-western region is apparently an important part of Bangladesh. We know this part was the center of Bengal under British raj. It was almost a hinterland of Kolkata during its formative phase in the then time. The present Khulna division was part of Presidency division of undivided Bengal. Many of us know that this part was not in the East Bengal and Assam province during partition of Bengal in 1905. The entire Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions including Malda, Jalpaiguri, North and South Dinajpur and Darjeeling were the part of newly formed East Bengal Province. The entire Khulna division is Gangetic delta and southern part of this region is Sundarban adjacent to the coastline of Bay of Bengal. The present Southwestern region consists of ten districts and it forms about twenty percent landmass of Bangladesh.
In the late fifties and early sixties some industries were established in Khulna, Noapara at Jashore and at Kushtia. In this context we can refer jute industries located in Khulna and Noapara and textile industries, sugar industries at greater Kushtia. Apart from this there is newsprint and some other industries located in Khulna. But all these heavy industries are closed now due to old machineries and other issues those are believed to be not addressed properly. This is the peoples’ perception. After independence greater Dhaka and Chattogram have been industrialized rapidly. Especially garments and its backward linkage industries flourished heavily.
Greater Khulna district has tremendous potentials of economic development. Present Khulna, Shatkhira and Bagerhat are the part of greater Khulna. This area has Sundarbans, port, shrimp culture area and Mongla EPZ where different industries are on the production line now and many are in the pipeline. Khulna is the 3rd largest city in Bangladesh. But still now it contains sub-standard city life. After fifty years of independence this important city does not have direct air link with the capital city, maybe, it is one of the hindrances of balanced development of Khulna. Many times we heard an airport is being constructed near Khulna city. But no tangible progress is seen decade after decades.
The old industries located in Khulna are now on the verge of decaying. These industries were established in the decade of late fifties and early sixties of last century. That time Khulna was a vibrant city but presently this city is just opposite to that character. For that reason, maybe, the city of Khulna is reducing and getting depopulated slowly. But after completion of Padma Bridge, Khulna might get extra advantages. Now short route of road connection is established and rail link between Jashore being constructed will definitely enhance the importance of Khulna and Mongla port. It means the big industrialists will take interest to set up new industries in Khulna region. Furthermore, Mongla port has now direct road access with Dhaka after completion of Padma Bridge. For that we hope that this port will take a big share of export-import of the country in near future. New automobiles are mainly imported through this port. This is a positive sign of economic activities of this region.
Shrimp is one of the major export items of Bangladesh after garments. And shrimp culture in Khulna, Bagerhat and Shatkhira draws attention of high-ups of the government. Many people in these three districts work in the shrimp culture, processing and packaging. But the other side of shrimp culture is the salinity of the agricultural land and ultimately it hampers the climatic condition of that area. So expert on this issue should work to strike a balance between shrimp culture and salinity.
Projecting Sundarbans as a complimentary to the tourism may enhance and flourish the image of this region. We know already many tour operators arrange different package tour programs for enthusiastic tourist visiting Sundarbans. But at the same time it is also important to protect Sundarbans and its flora and fauna.
Nowadays it is talk of country that the natural gas of Bhola will be used in Dhaka and its adjacent area’s industrial belt by bottling this. Government should take initiatives to supply Bhola natural gas to Khulna through pipeline. If it is done it would revamp the sick industries located in Khulna and Jashore.
We know Jashore is one of the oldest districts in Bangladesh. It is also a garrison town since British period. The only airport providing service to the southwestern people is Jashore airport. Beside that Jashore has some industries located at Noapara area which is also an important river port in Bangladesh. But it lacks modern facilities and jetty system. Concerned authorities should look into this issue. Moreover, Jashore is one of the big gateways of Indo-Bangla trade through land port Benapole. After completion of Padma Bridge the importance of Jashore has increased manifold. The direct road link and rail link will enhance the speedy and fast movements to and from Jashore to Dhaka and Kolkata. At the same time the people of Godkhali (flower capital of Bangladesh) will be able to establish stable marketing of their products after completion of rail link and four lane road projects toward Kalna Bridge from Benapole. Another vibrant activity in Jashore is the localization of bus, truck body-making. It is a promising sector located in Jashore. Strong policy support and credit support might be a big step to the automobile industries in Jashore. Concerned authority should take immediate steps to flourish this initiative. To upgrade railway system in this region the authority should take immediate step introducing railways network with Jhenidha, Magura, Meherpur with Mujibnagar and Islamic University. If that is so the whole region will get a composite rail network. And ultimately it will enhance the socio-economic development in this area.
Kushtia, the extreme northern district of this region, is also termed as cultural capital of Bangladesh. The district has much potential in different economic sectors. Currently the district lacks air-route service. But it can be minimized easily with the abandoned airfield located at Ishurdi. Ishurdi is not far from Kushtia. It is only 30 km from Kushtia crossing Lalon Shah Bridge over the mighty Padma. So the concerned authority should take appropriate steps to reintroduce this airfield.
With the facts mentioned above we can say this region has great potentials to contribute in the Bangladesh economy. Now strong political commitment is badly needed to upgrade this region so that this region can be merged with the main stream of Bangladesh economy.
(The writer is a former
Civil Servant).
