A part of the century-old Gabkhan Channel has been grabbed and turned into a temporary dock in Jhalakathi Sadar for loading and off-loading construction materials of a nearby highway.

As a result, the 18km canal, the country's only man-made naval route, has become narrow at the point, disrupting vessel movement.

Known as the Suez Canal of Bangladesh, the Gabkhan Channel connects Jhalakathi and Pirojpur, two southern districts. Every day, several dozen goods-laden vessels, including international ones, operate on it.

The dock was set up nearly three months ago on the western side of the canal near Gabkhan Bridge for its proximity to the under construction highway linking Barisal and Khulna. The work is expected to end within December next year.

While describing how the grabbing was done, a local shopkeeper, wishing not to be named, said an enclosure was first made of bamboo slates, covering a wide area. Next, it was filled with sand by Kohinoor Enterprise, the contractor building the road.

Contacted, Md Nayem, one of the owners of the firm, denied grabbing the canal.

"The land was under the control of some locals. We arranged to use the space for the time being; we even pay rent to them," he said but refused to give details about the "locals". "We will remove the sand once the construction ends."

The partial landfill has resulted in the canal losing its navigability, hampering river traffic on the Bangladesh-India, Chittagong-Mongla and Dhaka-Khulna routes, according to the chambers of commerce and industry in Barisal and Jhalakathi.

The encroachment would impede trade under the Bangladesh-India protocol agreement on river traffic, said Md Saidur Rahman Rintu, presi-dent of Barisal Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The canal was excavated between 1912 and 1918 to link the Sugandha river in Jhalakathi and the Kocha and Sandhya rivers of Pirojpur, said Md Azmol Huda, deputy director (route) of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA).

The canal reduced the distance on the Dhaka-Mongla and Chittagong-Mongla river routes by about 118 kilometres and travel time by up to

eight hours.

Sixty to 70 passenger or goods-laden vessels used to ply this every day four years ago but now the number has come down between 30 to 40, according to the Jhalakathi signal office of the BIWTA.

Talking to this newspaper recently, Md Mahamud Hossain, captain of an oil tanker that operates on the water body, said, "In the dry season, depth of the canal water decreases and we have to wait a long time for the ebb tide to resume vessel movement."

Khan Siafullah Ponir, a BIWTA contractor who collects toll from vessels using the canal, said the government was losing revenue as the number of the vessel has decreased.

Every vessel pays Tk 2,000 to Tk 4,000, based on its load capacity, he said.

"This canal is important as we can carry imported goods directly from Haldia Port in India to the southern districts of Bangladesh," said Md Salek, former president of Jhalakathi Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

If the canal loses navigability for grabbing or lack of maintenance, vessels headed for Chittagong, Barisal and Dhaka from Mongla, Khulna and India would have to use the sea, which would increase their carrying costs, he added.

Asked, Md Mostafijur Rahman, joint director (port) of BIWTA (Barishal port) said, “I have been informed about the grabbing and we will take immediate action."