Shawdesh desk:

Over 500 farmers of several villages in Rupsa upazila under Khulna district are living amid fear of losing their cropland as no initiative has been taken in the last three years to construct the broken Shreerampur embankment to protect their land.

Farmers said there is around 525 hectares of croplands in Shreerampur char and over 500 farmers cultivate vegetables, rice and fruits on the fertile land three times a year.

But three years ago about 1.5 km of the embankment from Shreerampur Palpara to Idris Jamaddar’s brick kiln collapsed due to erosion by the Rupsha River, leaving the cropland under threat.

Local MP Abdus Salam Murshedi took an initiative to solve the problem but no visible progress was made in the construction of embankment due to some complexities that created resentment among the local people.

AHM Kamal, a farmer of the upazila who has land in Sreerampur char, said, ‘We have been cultivating this land for generations. After meeting the region’s demand the rest of the crops are exported. We are in a great anxiety because of the river erosion which started three years ago. We are always afraid that the river water would enter the cropland and damage our crops. So I urge prime minister Sheikh Hasina and local lawmaker Abdus Salam Murshedi to save the farmers of the area by constructing an embankment as soon as possible.’

Md Jahangir Hosen Mukul, a member of Khulna district Awami League, said, ‘This dam has a great significance in the life of the farmers of this area. If the embankment collapses due to erosion, thousands of people will be affected .Croplands will be destroyed and there will be shortage of food. So I think it is very important to construct this embankment.’