Gabkhan Channel dredging begins

the 18-kilometre Gabkhan Channel at a cost of Tk 16 core to facilitate double way safe navigation through it.

Known as Suez Canal of Bangladesh, the channel was dug by the British rulers about 200 years back to link the Sugandha river in Jhalakati

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

with the Sandhaya river in Pirojpur for easy river communication between the southwestern parts of the then Bengal with rest of it.

But with passing of time, the double way channel lost its width due to emergence of shoals and silt deposit, making it a single way route, making movement of large ships difficult.

Vessels now have to wait for hours to cross the channel.

Movement was totally stopped after a cargo vessel -- CV Trisha-1 , hit by an oil tanker, sank in the channel with about 1000 tonnes of cement on March 10.

Due to closure of the channel, BIWTA incurred a loss of about Tk 5 lakh per day.

The river route was re-opened on March 20 for one-way navigation after widening it at the accident point by dredging.

However the sunken vessel is yet to be salvaged, making the channel risky for navigation.

The vessel can not be salvaged with BIWTA's equipment, its Deputy Director said earlier.