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Ranjit Baowali, a lifelong activist and leader of the Bhobodoh Water Drainage Movement Committee, died on Wednesday at his home in Jashore's Abhaynagar upazila following a brain hemorrhage. He was 70 years old. His passing marks the end of an era for the Bhobodoh region, where he spent over four decades campaigning against persistent waterlogging.

Baowali was a prominent figure in the struggle of more than 3 million people across parts of Jashore and Khulna districts who suffer from chronic waterlogging. This environmental crisis has transformed into a way of life for many, with homes surrounded by stagnant water and bamboo walkways replacing roads. Rivers in the region have become silted, trapping rainwater and leaving vast areas submerged for months, damaging fish enclosures, sickening livestock, and reducing arable land.

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Our people and our cattle are suffering equally. Skin diseases have become common because we have lived in water for so many years. We don’t know whether this suffering will ever end.

Despite living in financial hardship himself, Baowali dedicated his life to organizing residents, leading protests, and engaging with officials to find a permanent solution to the drainage crisis. Those who worked with him remember him as a man whose commitment to others was his greatest asset. His funeral was attended by political activists, cultural workers, and villagers who viewed him as the voice of their forgotten region.

Atul Sarkar, a 70-year-old resident, described the pervasive suffering: “Our people and our cattle are suffering equally. Skin diseases have become common because we have lived in water for so many years. We don’t know whether this suffering will ever end.” Baowali's efforts were aimed at ending this cycle of hardship for thousands of impoverished families, making his death a profound loss for the community he tirelessly served.

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His family lived in poverty. Yet instead of spending his