5 canals in capital come back to life

Manda, Jirani, Shyampur, Segunbagicha and Panthapath canals in the capital are getting new life as Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) is restoring navigability and connection of the canals with rivers under a crash programme.

The DSCC is also conducting cleanliness, boundary demarcation and eviction drives on both banks of the canals under the programme.

City dwellers are facing waterlogging problem as the canals are losing water flow and connection with the rivers due to lack of care, DSCC sources said.

The canals were in death throes due to illegal grabbing and accumulation of silt, they also said.

“We have a mega plan to ensure sustainable development of the canals so that none can pollute and grab the water bodies again. Under the sustainable plan, we will give the water bodies an eye-catching look by constructing walkway. We will also build fences along the canal banks to stop dumping of solid waste and install lights,” said chief waste management officer of DSCC Badrul Amin.

He said, “We have removed 25,000 tonnes waste from Jirani canal and such work will continue until the final success. We are using machines along with the manual system during the cleanliness drive to finish the work quickly.”

Badrul Amin claimed that 28 drainage pits of Panthapath canal and 64 drainage pits of Segunbagicha canal have been cleaned up and work is going on to clean the canal beds. 

DSCC spokesperson Abu Nasher said, “Once upon a time, people crossed Balu river to reach Trimohoni and transported goods using boats. Now, we are trying to restore the waterway. Meanwhile, we have restored navigability in the major portion of the water transport route.”

He also said under a crash programme, they are conducting drives to clean banks of the canals, demarcate boundaries of the water bodies and evict illegal structures from the banks of all five canals. 

DSCC officials said they restored navigability of two kilometres of Manda canal under the programme. They also demarcated the canal and demolished illegal structures on both sides of the canal. 

In Shyampur canal, the DSCC is removing the waste manually and evicting makeshift structures from the canal banks, they said. 

In Jirani canal, the DSCC restored water flow from Trimohoni to Nandipara, a kilometre area which was blocked with a layer of three to four feet of waste.

“The programme will be completed by March. I hope Dhaka dwellers will get its benefit very soon as the programme will solve waterlogging as well as mosquito breeding problem,” he also added.

Source: The Daily Sun