Large tracts of paddy fields have been inundated and about 35 wells in Kushem Waddo, Aldona, has been polluted by the flow of saline water, as the 250-metre bundh near ferry wharf in Corjuem (Aldona) has breached at seven places.
The tsunami of December 26, 2004, devastated many coastal areas in Sri Lanka. Curiously, the tsunami spared several areas which had mangroves - dense forests of salt-resistant trees and shrubs that grow in brackish, low-lying coastal swamps in the tropics and subtropics.
Commercial considerations are taking a heavy toll on the popular mangrove swamps in Sri Lanka, with environmentalists asking for effective measures to preserve them. Mangrove plants has helped in water flow and enhancing the possession of sediments in the water system.
A study said healthy mangrove forests helped save Sri Lankan villagers during the tsunami 2004.
Hazards of the proposed canal The proposed canal, dubbed Two Seas Canal, will pump water from the Red Sea to a height of 230 m above sea level, transport it along the Araba valley and then run down into the Dead Sea. The downhill flow will be harnessed to generate 550 MW of electricity. Green groups say mixing waters from seas with drastically different chemical composition could cause the
Farmers in Paikgachcha and Dakop upazilas in Khulna are facing different kinds of harassment, including filing of false cases against them, from shrimp farmers in the area because of their anti-saline water campaign.
Some two and a half lakh residents at Sirajdikhan upazila in Munshiganj district have been facing acute shortage of drinking water because of salinity and arsenic contamination in the ground water.
The villagers at remote places are now facing acute drinking water crisis during the summer because of fall in the ground water level, high salinity and arsenic contamination in the area.
