Chhatra canal in Lohagara has been encroached upon by some locals, who erected many structures on and around it.
Once well-known as a rich source of fish, the waterbody has almost dried up as well because of the dam constructed at the connecting point of the Nabaganga River to the southwest of Lohagara Bazar.
It is now full of water hyacinths and wastes dumped by locals.
Dr Shah Fayez Alam, a physician who lives near the canal, said the waterbody would be deemed a river in the 1960s and was frequently used as a water transport route.
“The most aristocratic families of that period began living nearby and the canal soon became a major trade centre.”
Humayun Kabir, a local man who is a teacher by profession, said the canal’s pollution level had risen because of garbage.
“Fishes die in the polluted water and surface during the monsoon.”
Some people who built structures on the canal and its banks claimed they are not encroachers. They said the structures had been erected on their own lands.
“The banks of the canal eroded in the 60s and the lands we owned were destroyed. But those later resurfaced and we built structures on the lands,” one of them said.
Mayor of Lohagara municipality, Newaz Ahmed Thakur, said the 2.5km canal is connected with two rivers and four other canals.
He said there should be steps to make the canal pollution-free.
Lohagara Upazila Fisheries Officer Hosne Ara Happy said the canal could again be used for fish farming if it could be recovered from the clutches of encroachers and the level of pollution could be reduced.
She said she had tabled the proposal several times at the monthly meetings of the upazila development and coordination committee.
Md Mokhter Hossain, Lohagara upazila nirbahi officer, said the illegal structures built on and around the canal were being identified and an eviction drive would follow soon.
Sub-assistant Engineer of Water Development Board’s Narail office, Al Jahir, said he would inform the higher authorities of the state of the canal and would propose steps for its development.
