& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Kutubkhali canal waits to be history

Pinaki Roy
Locals and a vested interested group are killing the remaining part of Kutubkhali canal, a tributary of Dholai Khal, despite the call of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for excavation of city canals to protect the environment.
This leftover of the canal is an example how a navigable wide waterway could turn into a stagnant filthy ditch.
An elderly inhabitant of the locality, Md Atikullah, 70, can clearly remember how big boats once sailed through this canal.
"During my childhood 1 saw big boats sailing through this canal. We used to fish here," said Atikullah. owner of a bed and quilt shop by the Kutubkhali in Dania.
But encroachment and filling up of its bed just quicken the death of the tributary of Dholai Khal, which was once connected to the Buriganga and Dhaleshwari rivers. During that time, boats carrying goods from the Shitalakhya river used to take a short cut through this canal to go to the Buriganga.
But now it is nothing but a pool of filthy stagnant waters. The narrowed down Kutubkhali canal is now connected with two box culverts underneath the Dholaipaar Bazar Road and KajlainDemra. Over the years the city authorities have filled up both sides of the canal and paved roads over it.
"It does not need much rainfall to flood our area. There is no drainage system for the rainwater to recede," said Atikullah.
He added Mahbubul Hasan, principal of Jatrabari Zamia Alia Madrasa, situated on the bank of the canal, is trying to fill up its last remaining part to make a road.
"He has been writing to the government to turn it into a road. Well, if we can make a road here, the price of this land will increase," Atikullah commented.
Locals say just two decades ago the city authorities filled up and made a road on the Dholai Khal and later built the Kajla road there filling another part of the canal. The moves increased inundation in the area during the monsoon.
Now the last remaining parts of Kutubkhali and Kadamtali canals that are connected to the Buriganga through Shyampur have become vulnerable due to further encroachment.
During a recent field visit in the area the small traders were seen virtually grabbing the last remaining canal in Uttar Kutubkhali, Dholaipaar and Dokkhin Kutubkhali and Kadamtali Zia Colony.
The prime minister recently called upon all authorities concerned to preserve the canals and other water bodies while inaugurating the excavation of a canal and water reservoir in old airport area of the Bangladesh Air Force on October 7.
Contacted. Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) officials said they are going to launch a massive project to recover the canals from encroachers with assistance from the World Bank soon.