Batibari Canal at Bagerhat, Bangladesh, is on the way to extinction due to encroachment and pollution.
Batibari Canal in the Khanjahanpally-Gobardia area of Karapara Union of Bagerhat Sadar Upazila is on the way to being wiped out due to encroachment and pollution.
The nearly three-kilometer-long canal is now almost dead due to the construction of various structures over the past 30 years.
There are even allegations that some sections of canals are recorded in the name of individuals. Due to the loss of navigability, finding the canal’s existence during the dry season is difficult. Still, during the monsoons, water cannot flow through the canal, causing waterlogging in Khanjahanpally and Gobardia areas.
Locals’ houses and roads get flooded with light rain. The once-flowing canal has now become the misery of the people of Khanjahanpally-Gobardia.
The area’s residents have applied to various departments, including the district administration and Bagerhat Municipality, to dig the canal free from illegal occupation but have not received any solution.
The canals filled with rain water and flooded the nearby roads and houses. Sometimes a pile of dirt. The channel has wooden pilings; some houses are also in the canal. A small pipe culvert over the canal connects the village road.
Keeping the canal water flow normally through that pipe culvert is almost impossible. A person named Mustafa Kamal, who was walking along that road, said,
“People of the area used to bathe in this canal, wash dishes and do necessary work with the canal’s water. No one uses the canal anymore. In the dry season, children play, and in the rainy season, we drown. Various filth is responsible for the rotten smell in the area.”
A young man named Arif said, “Due to arbitrary occupation, there is no water drainage system. If it rains a little, we get waterlogged. The canal needs to be cleared quickly.”
Applying to various offices, including the District Commissioner’s office, to clear the canal. Rustam Mallik said, “I have applied several times to multiple departments to excavate and clear the canal.
Last May 29, I applied to Bagerhat District Commissioner.” The CS recorded Batikhali canal flowing through Khanjahanpally-Gobardia village is connected to the Putimari River. Some unscrupulous people have registered several parts of the channel in their name.
Many have built houses and markets on canal land. As a result, the canal lost its navigability. The normal flow of water is obstructed. The water and the garbage thrown by the residents create a stench.
In this way, the canal will strangle. Then there will be no more canals, and a small concrete drain will build here. The administration’s intervention is necessary to free the canal from encroachment at any cost.
A woman named Mumtaz Begum said, “Gobdia area has been submerged in water. Children cannot attend school and college; bringing them from the market is complicated. Without a proper drainage system, the area will become uninhabitable.”
This is the actual scenario in Bangladesh on how to disappear the drainage canals/rivers from the country.
