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‘Death is only a matter of time

From Fakhrun Nessa
KUSHTIA. Apr 28: The lives of millions of people living in seven south western districts of the country would be drastically changed if the river Gorai is cut off from its origin, warned water experts and environmentalists. The Gorai is the major fresh water source for all the small rivers, waterbodies and marsh-lands of those districts, they pointed out.
Originating from the Padma in Kushtia district, the Gorai runs through Faridpur. Rajbari. Jhenidah. Magura. Narail and Khulna districts before emptying into the Bay of Bengal at Halifax Cut. The river is known by different names in different districts on its seabound course.
"The Gorai is doomed... its death is only a matter of time", commented Sheikh Abdul Momin. a Water Development Board (WDB) engineer working in Kushtia.
During a visit to the two kilometre-wide off-take of the Gorai. this correspondent witnessed the bed of the river had risen higher than its original level. Huge sand dunes, stretching some 61 kilometres towards the sea, have been formed on the river bed. blocking water flow from the Padma. Innumerable pools with stagnant water have also been created along Its course. Country boats are no longer able to enter the river from the Padma. People were seen crossing the once mighty river on foot. Horse-drawn carriages, bullock carts and truck lorries are able to ply at ease. "Shoal formation, rise in the river bed level and severe bank erosion, all these are symptoms of a dying river," said Momin. "And all these symptoms are clearly visible in the Gorai", he added.
The WDB engineers informed this correspondent that the Gorai off-take was first closed in January, seven years ago and re opened briefly before closing again in early January last year.
"What a mighty river it was," recalled Abul Hossain, a sand quarry owner near the Gorai off take. The current of the river was so swift and scary that we used to think twice before bathing in the river," he recalled.
The impending death of the Gorai has, however, brought fortune for Hasan, a fellow businessman. He sells a truck-load of sand for Tk 300. He makes about Tk 2,000 on average a day. Yet. he is not happy with the present condition of the river. 'The mara (dead) Gorai has also brought devastation to the poor along its course,” he said. "Look at the agricultural plots along the banks... all are barren." Now, the people can walk through the river bed along its course up to Renwick's ghat, a popular local market, he said. Renwick's ghat is about four kilometres from the Gorai, off-take, and nearer to Kushtia town. People living in the villages along the Gorai's banks can no longer cany out their professional job of farming, fishing and navigating due to the drying up of the river.
Use of fertiliser in excess quantity no longer produce good yields, farmers said. Irrigation by use of low-lift pumps has also become impossible.
Zahrul Malitha. a resident of Mirpur thana of Kushtia said, all the fishing folks belonging to the Hindu Haidar caste have either moved elsewhere in the distract or have migrated to India. "They have simply vanished from the neighbourhood,” he added.
Villagers said the price of fish has also gone_ up. A piece of Hilsa sells at between Tk 100 and 160 in the rural 'hats', and ruhi of carp at Tk 120 per kg. The villagers would never have beleived that fish would be so costly.
According to Flood Control and Irrigation Ministry officials, salinity in the coastal districts has spread about 200 kilometres inland. The sea-bound waters of the Gorai earlier flushed out the brackish waters of the Bay of Bengal, preventing seepage of water towards the mainland. Besides, inland fisheries, forest resources and navigation in the coastal distracts have also been affected. The only solution to the problem lies in augmenting the flow of the Gorai with at least 10,000 cusecs of water flow. WDB engineers explained. The present flow of the Gorai is less than 150 cusecs during the dry season (March through June).