It is tough to recognise Jail Khal as a canal because of encroachment, earth filling, and dumping of waste into the water body.
Now, the canal is facing another challenge. Thus, townspeople of Barisal are fearing that the canal might extinct one day.
To meet the demand of water, the Barisal City Corporation and the Sylhet City Corporation set up two water treatment plants at Amanatganj and Ruptoli of the city in 2013.
The two city corporations and the The Public Health Engineering Department are jointly implementing the project.
Currently, the PHED is installing water supply pipelines in the canal blocking water flow. Consequently, the canal has already shriveled up.
During a visit to different points of the canal, this correspondent found that water of the canal has been blocked at Nathullabad and Nazirer Pol points.
It was learnt from sources that the PHED is installing these pipelines without taking any permission from the Department of Environment (DoE).
Sukumar Biswas, director of the DoE office in Barisal, said no one had informed them about the matter or taken permission from them.
Lutful Alam, sub-assistant engineer of the PHED Barisal, said the work was implementing under Sylhet- Barisal City Corporations Water Supply, Sanitation and Drainage Development Project with a cost of Tk220 crores.
About 70% works of the project has already completed and now works for installing and developing 20 kilometres pipelines of drinking water are going on. He said they did not take permission from the DoE since installation of pipelines has almost done.
Nikhil Chandra Das, chief executive officer of Barisal City Corporation, said water would be supplied to city residents through the pipelines from the two treatment plants.
The blocked portions would be opened as soon as the installation works of supply pipelines completed, he said. On other hand, city residents alleged that as water flow of the canal stopped, waste which the townspeople dump into the water body is also in stalled state that polluting environment.
Abdul Motalab, a resident of Nazirer Pol area, said: “Now the canal has become a dustbin of garbage which is spreading bad smell.”
Kisore Karmokar, a resident of Nathullabad area, the canal had turned into a breeding ground of mosquitoes.
He demanded that authorities concerned make water flow of the canal free as soon as possible.