A group of students today staged a demonstration demanding dredging of a 400-metre section on the Sowai river in Netrokona.

They blocked the Netrokona-Mymensingh road for nearly three hours in front of Shyamganj Hafiz Ziaur Rahman Degree College, halting traffic movement in the area.

The began their demonstration around 11:00am.

The Sowai flows through parts of Mymensingh and Netrokona.

Purbadhala Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Rezwana Kabir along with the other officials visited the scene and assured the demonstrators of action.

The protesters lifted the blockade around 2:00pm.

During the protest, several student leaders spoke out, including Ark Dutta, the publicity secretary of the Dhaka metropolitan city unit Chhatra Union.

Two year ago, Water Development Board began dredging the river. However, dredging did not cover 400-metre area of the river near Shyamganj Bazar in Netrokona.

When asked, Netrokona Water Development Board Executive Engineer Md Sarwar Jahan said, "There are some conflicting opinions on dredging this 400-meter section. Moreover, the work could not be carried out on that section due to objections from one party. Some of the land there is owned by an individual who initially agreed to give up 20 feet for the project. However, he later backtracked. We hope to find a reasonable solution soon."

Meanwhile, Purbadhala UNO Rezwana Kabir said, "The disputed 400-metre section falls within Gauripur upazila in Mymensingh. Despite this, I went to the protest site to manage the situation and ease public suffering on the road. The matter has been reported to higher authorities."