Canal encroachment worsens water-logging at Rupganj Upazila

RUPGANJ, NARAYANGANJ, July 20: Illegal encroachment, canal filling and years of poor maintenance have caused chronic water-logging inside an embankment area in Rupganj Upazila, leaving thousands of residents in at least eight villages marooned after even light rainfall, locals alleged.

The affected areas include Kanchan, Kaladi, Nolpathar, Dulurdia and Tekpara under Kanchan Municipality, and Hatab, Baruipara, Amlab and Pithaghuri in Golakandail Union.

Residents said roads and houses go under water every monsoon, disrupting daily life, preventing students from attending educational institutions and increasing the risk of waterborne diseases.

According to locals, two major canals and six to seven branch canals were excavated in 1986 with funding from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to improve drainage during the rainy season and provide irrigation in the dry season. A sluice gate with four irrigation pumps was also installed at Baniadi, linking the canal network to the Shitalakkhya River.

However, many of those canals have since been encroached upon or filled up, severely restricting water flow.

A visit to the area found that a canal from Kanchan-Kaladi to Golakandail had disappeared after being filled during the expansion of the Dhaka Bypass Road. Around 50 illegal structures have been built over a canal in the Ukil Bari area of Kanchan South Bazar, while garden houses have occupied parts of a branch canal between Tekpara and Pithaghuri.

Residents also alleged that sections of irrigation canals in Dulurdia have been filled with sand, while waste dumping, household garbage and permanent structures have narrowed the main canal between the Baniadi sluice gate and Golakandail. They further alleged that factories have encroached on several branch canals and discharged waste into them, worsening the drainage problem.

The residents demanded recovery and re-excavation of the canals, eviction of illegal occupiers and regular maintenance of the waterways to restore natural drainage.

Rupganj Upazila Nirbahi Officer Saiful Islam said meetings had been held with business owners, who had promised to remove illegal structures voluntarily within a specified timeframe.

"If they fail to do so, the administration will conduct eviction drives and demolish all illegal structures built on the canals," he said.