Gazipur City Corporation in cooperation with the district administration, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) and BRRI, has started the campaign.

About 150 workers and employees of BRRI, BARI and the city corporation took part in waterlogging removal activities voluntarily.

Research activities are being hampered at BRRI as the waterlogging problems took an acute form in most of the 45 hectares of research plots of the institute for several years mainly due to unplanned construction of buildings in the adjacent areas without adequate drainage facilities.

Organisers say waterlogging removal activities will continue until the problem is solved permanently in the area.

Similar voluntary services could be imitated in other areas of the country, they added.

BRRI Director General Dr Md Nur-E-Elahi, Deputy Commissioner of Gazipur Syed Mizanur Rahman, Police Superintendent of Gazipur Md Alamgir Alam and Chairman of Gazipur Pourasava Advocate AKM Mozammel Haque spoke on the inaugural session of the campaign while BRRI Director Dr BAA Mustafi and BARI Director Md Nasir Uddin also attended.