The Kopotakkho River once flowed through Satkhira and Jessore until 2006 when the river slowly started shrinking due to being filled.
The situation only deteriorated from there with 20,000 bighas of lands being reduced to just once crop land. During monsoon, locals in the area have to leave their homes in fear of becoming marooned.
However, as work for the second phase of a project undertaken to resolve the waterlogging issue starts, locals now see a ray of hope.
Once the excavation work is complete, the river flow is expected to abate the sufferings of at least 10,000 families.
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved the Tk531.7 crore project on August 18, 2022.
In a bid to alleviate the waterlogging issue the Jessore Water Development Board undertook a project to excavate 75 kilometre of the river from Chougachha to Manirampur in the upstream and 30 kilometre downstream from Paikgacha’s Boalia to Koyra’s Amadi.
The project is expected to be completed within June 2024. Moreover, an initiative has been undertaken for silt management as well as a 35-year Tidal River Management (TRM) program has been initiated for the augmentation of the tidal prism and drainage capacity.
Last year, in December, the 30km excavation work from Asasuni’s Shalikha to Paikgacha’s Hareshkhali began under seven packages, said Jessore Water Development Board Executive Engineer Md Taowhidul Islam.
Six contractors have been tasked with completing 24km of the excavation work, while the contractor for the final 6km is yet to be finalized.
According to one of the contractors, they have had to remove several illegal establishments from the banks of the river before they started digging.
Md Taowhidul Islam hoped that the excavation work will restore Kopotakkho to its former glory.