A human chain protest calling for the handover of power over the sluice channels to real farmers was staged on November 18, 2024, in Kalapara, Patuakhali, close to the Banatibazar Bridge in Balayatali. The local volunteer organization Amra Kalapara Bashi, Waterkeepers Bangladesh, and the environmental nonprofit Dhoritri Rokkhay Amra (DHORA) coordinated the event.
The demonstrators demanded that the real farmers be given authority over the sluice channels in Kalapara upazila and Balayatali Union. In order to guarantee appropriate sluice management, they also called for the government to restore sluice channel keepers, as was done in the past. These demands are essential for agricultural production, the demonstrators underlined.
The demonstrators also demanded an end to the practice of renting sluice channels for fish farming, which has led to a number of issues. They expressed worries that powerful people’s abuse of sluice channels is seriously harming farmland by obstructing the channels, resulting in waterlogging, and permitting saline water to enter, all of which impair agricultural output. For the benefit of farmers and agriculture, they demanded that these demands be implemented immediately.
