CHANDPUR, Aug 06: Water lily, the national flower of the country, is usually seen during the rainy season when beels and haors, paddy fields, canals, ponds and lakes are full to the brim with water.
During the rainy days, water lily is available in markets. It is cheap but tasty to take as a vegetable item with Hilsa fish and its head and also with shrimps.
When this flower is in full bloom in the morning, it adds extra beauty to the nature. It also impresses public mind and soothes eyes.
But, regretting matter is that this lovely flower seems to be going out of sight due to random filling up of the agri-lands by sands and soils due to rapid urbanisation in the rural and urban areas said a good number of nature lovers and veteran people and teachers.
In Chandpur town, there are now a few ponds and canals as they all are filled up with sands and soils, thus vanishing the existence of water lilies. In the past, there were around 100 water bodies here.
As the schools are shut for indefinite period, a good number of unemployed youths of the impoverished families in rural areas are seen to make the time useful.
Many are plucking water lilies from the water bodies and selling them in the town's markets in the morning and afternoon to make a living.
A random survey shows a good number of people, including youths, collect water lilies from Moishadi, Torpurchondi, Ashikathi, Ghosherhat and Mohamaya areas under Chandpur Sadar upazila, some other remote areas - Sreepur , Devpur beels, in Hajiganj Upazila, Dholaitoli beel in Matlab Dakhshin Upazila, some beels in Rajargaon areas under Hajiganj Upazila.
Many poor people, who are workless during the rainy season, also remain busy in some beels in collecting water lily flowers in Kochua upazila and in this way they defray their poverty-stricken families by bringing them to town areas for selling for survival in these hard days after a recent mass upheaval on the quota movement.
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