Water scarcity grave in Barind area of Bangladesh

Financial Express (Bangladesh): Water shortage is gradually becoming grave in the drought-prone Barind area due to scanty rainfall and excessive extraction of groundwater for irrigation as well as adverse impacts of the climate change caused by the global warming.

Simultaneously, the unprecedented fall of water level in the River Padma and its tributaries and other wetlands has created an adverse impact on livelihood of people especially the farmers and other marginal groups.

"Capital dredging of the Padma River has become indispensable to ensure surface water resources for protecting the northern region of the country from environmental degradation," said Agriculturist Rabiul Alam, Executive Director of Agriculture Sustainable and Socio-economic Development Organisation (ASSESO), while sharing views with the newsmen at his office here Sunday.

Jonouddyog, a network of different likeminded development organisations, organised the views-sharing session aimed at depicting the grim pictures of abnormal lowering of groundwater table together with its consequences.

"We have no alternative but to save the mighty Padma and other small rivers and tributaries from the continuous siltation to conserve the vast tract of the Barind area from desertification," he said, adding, "Adequate fund allocation is needed for the work"….

The Padma River, approaching Chittagong, shot by Shahnoor Habib Munmun, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license