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Sluice gates need urgent repairs

Farmers in Khulna’s Koyra upazila fear losses in Aman cultivation
DIPANKAR ROY
Farmers in Khulna’s Koyra upazila are facing difficulties with Aman cultivation as sluice gates in the area are mostly not working.
As a result, fresh water cannot be kept in the paddy fields while saline water enters the fields through holes in the sluice gates during tide.
Farmers are passing days in despair amid the possibility of incurring huge losses.
To ease drainage and water collection, Bangladesh Water Development Board in the 1990s constructed 27 sluice gates on 155km embankments in the Kopotakkho, Shakbaria and Koyra rivers flowing through the area.
Of those, five are completely out of order and 15 are hardly operational.
“Due to the non-operational sluice gate in nearby Gariabari area, rain water cannot be preserved in the canal, while heavy rains cause waterlogging in the paddy fields,” said farmer Ashraful Islam.
“Over the last 10-12 years, I am not getting expected yield due to lack of fresh water. The sluice gate has been out of order for years. We need to preserve rain water as river water is saline,” said Nimai Mondal of Hajatkhali village.
Hundreds of farmers in the upazila are facing similar problems.
According to WDB, five sluice gates in Hajatkhali, Oratala, Naksha, Ghoperkhal and Pabna areas in the upazila are non-functional while those in Masjid Kur, Amadi, Gilabari, Khoralkathi, Shalukhali, Hogla, Sheora, Bagali, Narayanpur, Gobindpur, Sutia Bazar, No 2 Koyra, Gariabari, Angtihara and Padmapukur areas have not been working properly.
SM Shofiqul Islam, chairman of Koyra upazila, said most of the sluice gates have not been repaired for years.
“Cyclone Amphan damaged the sluice gate in Hajatkhali area and it sank into the river. The Oratala sluice gate collapsed five years back and is yet to be repaired,” he added.
Visiting at least 12 villages in the upazila, this correspondent observed that most of the sluice gates were not working.
While the sluice gates in Nayani and Shakbaria canals are operational, locals are cultivating fish within at least 15 dams in the canals, which stopped the natural flow of water.
Ashim Kumar Das, agriculture officer in Koyra upazila, said Aman cultivation will be carried out in around 14,720 hectares of land this year.
According to the Department of Agriculture Extension, there are 548 sluice gates in Khulna district, including 336 operational, 140 broken with little functionality, and 62 completely out of order.
“We have already informed the higher officials to fix these sluice gates,” said Kazi Jahangir Hossain, deputy director of DAE.
BWDB officials said the list has been sent to the higher authorities for repairing the sluice gates.
“We will repair the sluice gates that are partially functional in phases. However, the ones that are completely out of order are beyond repair,” said Ashraful Alam, executive engineer of Khulna BWDB-2.