Time running out for Gulatola

Permanent concrete structures being constructed by encroaching parts of Gulatola canal and dumping of solid wastes is putting the final nails in the coffin of the waterbody.

The two-kilometre-long canal in Khulna's Dumuria upazila, which flows through Mirzapur village, used to be a lifeline for farmers by providing water for irrigation to around 5,000 acres of arable lands.

It also used to connect with Basjatra canal and Koiya river, while serving as a channel to drain out rainwater during monsoon.

However, the canal is now awaiting its demise. Once 150-feet wide, the canal is now only around 20-30 feet wide in most places.

Around 400 residents of Madhobkati, Gutudia, Ghona, Amvita, Salua, Rangpur, Beel-Dakatia, Ramkrishnapur, and Hasanpur villages under Dumuria upazila depend on the canal for different reasons, including agriculture, domestic use, and transportation.

Farmers from at least 12 villages around the canal are facing a water shortage during irrigation season. Meanwhile, hundreds of bighas of paddy fields go under rainwater during monsoon as the canal can no longer drain out excess water.

"The canal is in a critical condition. Household garbage is being dumped into it regularly, while local influential people have been shrinking the waterbody by occupying its banks illegally and building structures," said Debashis Mondal, a local union parishad member.

"Some officials of Bangladesh Water Development Board visited the canal a few months ago, but no step has been taken," he added.

Ganash Chandra Mondal, a local farmer said, "I used to carry my paddy on a boat through the canal. But for the last couple of years, it is no longer possible due to lack of navigability. Now I have to spend over Tk 2,000 to carry the goods using a van or cart.'

Over the last five years or so, paddy fields are regularly getting inundated with rainwater during monsoon for 15-25 days, said Binoy Krishna Bachar of Sajiyara village.

Echoing the same, Debbroto Mondal of Rangpur village said, "My four bighas of fish enclosures got submerged last year as rainwater could not drain out through the canal."

"Due to the canal's present condition, the fate of over 1,500 fish enclosures located around Beel-Dakatia area now hangs in the balance," he added.

Gazi Md Humayun Kabir Bulu, chairman of Dumuria upazila parishad, said, "We want the canal to be revived through excavation after proper survey. The illegal encroachers must also be evicted."