Rose farmers in Savar are struggling. Rose gardens are steadily shrinking under the grip of housing projects, and output is falling because of irrigation shortages and other problems. The upazila agriculture office says it is working to raise rose yields, but officials want the government to intervene to stop the housing projects.

A visit to Birulia's rose village found drought in the growing gardens and rose gardens gradually disappearing. Some people are even digging away the soil of the lost gardens, and housing projects are behind it. They have taken over land in various places and put up signboards, and in some spots dug away the soil and left the land like a desert.

Even in gardens where roses were grown, farmers did not get the yields they hoped for. In some gardens the flowers have wilted for lack of water, and the soil around the roots has dried and cracked.

Several people, named Majnu, Rahim and Yasin, alleged that farmers are being forced to sell their land. They said people from the housing companies nurture a local gang, which uses harassment and tricks to hand farmers' land to the companies. The companies block the roads farmers use to reach their gardens, and there are even allegations that deep tube wells used for irrigation have been removed so farmers cannot cultivate.

Several other farmers who spoke to the reporter looked frightened and asked not to be named, because speaking against the housing owners draws them into all kinds of plots.

The roses blooming in the gardens have been a blessing for farmers in the area, bringing in about Tk 100 crore each season. But that income is on a downward curve. Beset by problems and obstacles, farmers are struggling, rose gardens are shrinking day by day, and visitor numbers are falling along with output. Those who still come are disappointed by the flowerless gardens and their surroundings. Roses were once grown on 200 hectares in Birulia alone; that has now fallen to 110 hectares.

College student Saban Mahmud, who came from Dhaka to visit, said roses of many colours once swayed in the breeze across this wide stretch of now-fallow land, and that fertile land lies idle because of housing projects.

The couple Meherun and Ruma said angrily that there was once a place near Dhaka where one could breathe a little clean air, but that is now in the past. Land grabbers are finishing off the gardens by digging away the soil, they said; they must be brought to justice, or the rose village cannot be saved.

Savar upazila agriculture officer Al Mamun is also worried about the rose village. "We are working on raising yields," he said. "But the government must intervene to stop the housing. If action is not taken quickly, the rose village will suffer great damage."

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