Encroachment Threatens Jail Khal in Barisal City

Drive to drive out land grabbers 'an eyewash'

6 July 2009, 17:00 PM

Rafiqul Islam, Barisal

Barisal City Corporation's recent drive against illegal occupiers of Jail Khal, above, proved too futile as construction continues on the grabbed land at Natun Bazar point of the natural watercourse flowing through the city. The drive stopped within two days.Photo: STAR

Encroachment and garbage dumping threaten Jail Khal, the only natural canal for carrying water and liquid waste out of Barisal city. Big structures have been constructed on the canal as local influential people as well as public and autonomous bodies like Barisal City Corporation (BCC) have occupied parts of the watercourse. A large stretch of the canal on its north bank has been recently earth-filled to extend housing areas. During an eviction drive in Bandh Road and Port Road areas of the city about two weeks ago, Barisal City Corporation (BCC) authorities removed, fully or partly, 14 illegal establishments from the bank of the canal. However, the drive came to a halt in a couple of days. “The eviction drive was simply an eyewash,” remarked a city dweller. “How can it continue when BCC itself is an encroacher?” he posed. Clogged at many points, Jail Khal dries up during summer. Its thick black liquid spreads stink and creates health hazard. Stagnant water makes the canal a huge breeding ground of mosquitoes. There was a time when the two kilometre-long canal enabled large goods carrying boats to enter the city, as it was 20 metre-wide and five-metre deep on an average, many elderly people said. Now the width has come down to only around eight metres. The canal has also lost much of its depth and normal flow of water from Kwania and Nutan Bazar areas is disturbed, they lamented. Engine boats still use the canal in the rainy season to bring fish, vegetables, fruits and construction materials from distant places. But in the dry season, boats and trawlers can hardly ply the canal. Residential areas along the canal, including Kawania, Bazar Road, Port Road and Nathullahbath, go under water in the rainy season when the narrowed down outlet overflows and subsequent water logging causes untold sufferings to the people. City dwellers and environmentalists have urged the authorities concerned to free the canal from grabbers and dredge it to ensure its normal flow. “Dying of the natural canal, through which filth and garbage is carried to the Kirtankhola River, will mean disaster for Barisal city,” advocate Subhash Chandra Biprobedanti, coordinator of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) of Barisal district unit, said. When contacted, Mehedi Hassan, chief executive officer of BCC, said “We have a plan to evict encroachers from both sides of the canal and re-excavate it. Recently notice has been served to the people concerned to remove their illegal structures as the BCC has taken an initiative to make the canal utilitarian from economic and environmental points of view.”