People of Bhabadah in Jessore recently demanded immediate and permanent solution to the waterlogging problem in the area, which covers five upazilas of two districts in the country’s south-eastern part.
They also demanded that the government declare Bhabadah as an “affected area” and sought the prime minister’s direct intervention to mitigate the crisis.
More than 10 lakh people of 200 villages in Bhabadah area, including Abhoynagar, Monirampur and Keshabpur upazilas of Jessore and Khulna’s Fultala and Dumuria, are suffering due to waterlogging.
Manzur Alam, a resident  of Abhoynagar, said, “People are suffering from different types of waterborne diseases; they do not have enough money or food as their fish farms, ponds and crop fields have been inundated.
Around 50 schools have also been shut down,” he said. The residents urged the government to take initiatives, including excavation of Shrinadi and Horinadi rivers, re-excavation of Amdanga cannal, opening Bhabadah sluice gate and making it fully functional, and creating another sluice gate at the entrance of the Bhairab River.
Keshabpur municipality Mayor Rafiqul Islam said most of the areas were washed away by the river Buribhaddra and Khojakhal and the newly constructed Khukshia embankment is also under threat of being washed away. Twenty villages of the embankment have gone under 6 to 8 feet water.