Farmers besiege UNO office, protest cutting of arable land for fish enclosures

Local farmers besieged the Upazila Nirbahi Officer's (UNO) office in Monirampur, Jashore, protesting the construction of illegal fish enclosures, demanding the protection of arable land and bills, and proper drainage systems in Jaipur Kochabil. According to local sources, farmers had been carrying out various programs in the area for the past few days centered around cutting arable land to construct fish enclosures in Kochabil. Consequently, both parties—the affected farmers and the owners of the fish enclosures—were called to the UNO office on Sunday to resolve their long-standing dispute.

Later, the farmers and local residents arrived at the UNO office at the appointed time. However, as no one from the fish enclosure owners' faction showed up, the farmers and locals became angered. At one point, they started this protest yesterday, Sunday (June 29), around 2 PM. Later, after administrative officials assured a swift resolution in the presence of the police, they left the UNO office after about two hours.

At this time, the protesting farmers stated that Kochabil is the sole reliance for thousands of farmers in Dhakuria, Brahmananda, Hurgati, Bhabanipur, and Jaipur villages. A class of profit-seeking, dishonest individuals in this bill are destroying arable land one after another to create fish enclosures. As a result, the landowners and farmers of that bill are severely suffering due to the creation of these illegal fish enclosures. Recently, a person named Enamul Kabir illegally constructed a fish enclosure on arable land.

Three months ago, the affected farmers and local residents held a human chain and protest rally in the fields of Jaipur Kochorbil. Later, as the protesters staged a sit-in there for about two hours, Upazila Nirbahi Officer Nishat Tamanna and Upazila Assistant Commissioner (Land) Md. Niyaz Makhdum assured a quick resolution of the matter in the upazila law and order committee meeting in the presence of police, after which the protesters left the UNO office. Monir Patwari, a farmer leader who led the movement, said that the people of this region live by depending on agriculture.

Due to the illegal enclosures, drainage has stopped, resulting in crop damage as well as environmental harm. We have been demanding the administration's intervention to stop these for three months. But no cooperation has been received from anyone.