Bansh Canal in Jamalpur, Bangladesh, turned into garbage
Bansh Canal flows over the city of Jamalpur, Bangladesh. The city of Jamalpur was built around this canal. At present, the canal has turned into a wasteland of the city. Garbage is being dumped in the canal. The black water of the canal has a rotten smell. The residents of the banks of the canal have to hold their noses.
The Bansh Canal once played a role in the city’s drainage and drainage. And now the canal has become a breeding ground for mosquitoes due to the piles of garbage.
The authorities have been demanding for a long time to restore the normal water flow by removing the piles of garbage in the canal, but the authorities are not taking any initiative. The stench of garbage has become a cause of environmental disaster in the city. Waterlogging occurs in the city due to light rain.
Habib Hossain is a resident at the bank of the Bansh canal. As soon as the windows and doors of his house were opened, the rotten and poisonous stench of the canal entered. Habib Hossain said that the garbage of the canal has not been removed in the last seven-eight years.
The entire canal is filled with garbage and the sewage system is completely blocked. The residents of the adjacent canal are in great distress. Can’t stay in the house with the stench of rotten canal water. Had the canal flowed properly, this problem would not have occurred. The canal has turned into a mosquito and insect ground.
Around the canal, waste from houses, hotels, restaurants, private hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centers are floating across the canal. Somewhere in the canal is filled with brushes.
As someone approached the canal, the stench of rot came to our noses. Mosquitoes and flies are flying over the garbage in the canal.
Local people said that the canal was once the Bangshi River. In the course of time, that river has become a canal. The canal was built about 200 years ago.
As a tributary of the old Brahmaputra River from Jamalpur, the Bangsai River joined the Turag River through Tangail and Gazipur. The length of this river was 238 km. Although part of Jamalpur city has died, Bangsai River still exists in Tangail, Gazipur and Dhaka districts.
The old Banshai River in Jamalpur city is now recognized as Banshai Canal. Once the canal was completely occupied.
In 2007, Banshai Canal was largely de-occupied. At that time, the bottom of the canal is made like a drain for the flow of water by casting RCC. Bansh canal was important for the water supply of Jamalpur town. But the canal has now turned into a wasteland.
Jahangir Salim, President of Jamalpur District Environment Protection Movement Committee, mentioned the historical background of the Banshai Canal. During the Mughal period, a canal was built as a branch of the Brahmaputra River from Chapatla Ghat near Raniganj Bazar, in what is now Jamalpur city.
The clear water was home to various delicious fish. A fleet of sailing boats used to pass through this canal. Big boats from various countries passing through Brahmaputra in this canal with jute and jute products used to stop here.
The reputation of the banks of the Bansh Canal as a center of trade spread. Due to the evolution of time and the lust of the consumerist people, the Jamalpur part of the Bansal Canal has died.
Jahangir Salim also said that the Bansh Canal has survived as a witness of time with a length of three kilometers and a width of three meters from being filled and encroached upon. The canal joins Brahmaputra River through Chapatla Ghat via Gatepar, Malgudam, Mridhapara, Mukundabari, Dayamoyi Mor, Medical Road, Raniganj Bazar in the middle of the city.
The most important canal for the city’s water flow has turned into a cesspool. Municipal authorities are responsible for keeping the canal clean.
But no initiative has been taken to clean the canal even in the last 10 years. As a result, the piles of dirt and garbage, from mosquitoes and flies to harmful insects, have settled down.
A middle-aged woman in Mridhapara of Jamalpur city, area got angry when asked about the Bansh Canal. He said people live around the canal in the city. But over the years people have become fed up with the canal.
A healthy person will fall sick even if he walks near the canal. So rotten. The depth of the canal is seven to eight feet. But the dirt is not cleared and now it is full. To whom to protest all this, there is more danger if you protest. So everyone lives in it.
Mayor of Jamalpur Municipality Mohammad Chanwar Hossain said that citizens should be aware of this first. All household waste is thrown into the canal. Tried many times, so that no waste is thrown into the canal. But no one listens.
