Vanishing ponds raise fire risk in Pirojpur

Even a decade ago, Pirojpur was a town adorned with ponds. As land prices have soared in recent years however, many of the town's ponds have been filled. Beyond the loss to aesthetics and in terms of practical uses, the lack of ponds is increasingly causing grief to the town's fire fighters.

“There used to be ponds everywhere,” says denizen Ashraf Ali, 60. “Nowadays there are only a handful left, and most of those are half-empty and dirty.”

“I used to enjoy pond-bathing,” says local Firoj Ahmed, “But now there are hardly any ponds left. Even to reach the closest one takes time, so I don't go there. I can't remember the last time I was able to enjoy swimming in a pond.”

The price of land over the course of ten years has increased manifold, prompting a trend of continuous development at the expense of ponds, as well as canals and drains. To fill a pond with cheap sand collected from local rivers and transported by long-distance plastic pipe is a relatively straightforward endeavour. As a result, many ponds, especially those on private land, are no more.

Yet even on the premises of Pirojpur Government High School the landscape has changed. “Hundreds of people used the high school pond every day, for bathing and other purposes,” recalls local Monirul Islam. “But in 2013 the pond was filled to enlarge the school's field in preparation for a visit by the Prime Minister.” All across Pirojpur people are increasingly reliant on town water supplies for domestic chores.

Of greater concern is the impact on fire fighting. “Nowadays we face trouble in responding to fires in the town in terms of collecting water,” says the sub-assistant deputy director of Pirojpur's fire service and civil defence, Md Motiar Rahman. “After our own water reserves are depleted there just aren't the ponds available anymore to supply additional water.”

According to the sadar upazila fisheries office the number of ponds in the upazila has actually increased, but it's a statistic that includes village fish projects. The exact change in the number of ponds within the town area isn't measured.