Residents of Nayani village in Koyra upazila, Khulna, have risen in protest against plans to let saline river water into the area to build shrimp enclosures. Nayani is a village in Moheshwaripur union parishad of Koyra upazila.

Local women and men took up positions on the road and in the beel on Monday evening (26 May) to protest. They chanted: "If you come to bring in saline water, we'll hit you in the face with brooms; those who back saline water are enemies of the coast."

The protesters said shrimp had been farmed in saline enclosures in the area for 25 years, but last year the landowners decided collectively to return to crop farming. That opened new prospects for agriculture, but recently some people moved to build enclosures again and tried to bring saline water from the river. Villagers erupted in anger when an excavator was used to cut earth.

Locals allege that pipes laid for enclosures and cut embankments let water into homesteads, killing livestock and raising health risks. Women and men alike are standing firm to stop the enclosures being built.

Farmer Sohrab Hossain said: "The soil here grows very good rice. We started growing rice last year. Some people want to cut even the road to let in saline river water for enclosures, but the villagers have stopped them."

Local resident Al Shahriar said the area has become saline from years of fish farming with saline river water, and its bad effects have poisoned people's bodies. The local farming community decided to start growing rice, but a scheming, greedy group wants to restart the enclosure business, he said.

Moni Shankar Roy, a member of Moheshwaripur union parishad, said saline-water fish farming once covered the whole 2,400 bighas. Last year everyone signed a written pledge at the union parishad to farm the land, and now a few people are trying to break that agreement by cutting the embankment, but locals have protested.

Moheshwaripur union parishad Chairman Shahnewaz Shikari said people in the area are not interested in shrimp farming. They got a good rice harvest last year, and shrimp farming does more harm than good. But some powerful outsiders want to build enclosures by force, he said.

Koyra Upazila Nirbahi Officer Ruli Biswas said the police station and the Water Development Board had been informed. Village police are standing guard so no one can cut the road to let in saline water, and those responsible will be tracked down and brought to justice if they do not stop.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.