Madhuar Khal disappearing fast
Encroachers feast on the 400-year-old canal in Magura
PICTURE TELLS THE TALE! Madhuar Khal, a two-kilometre-long canal flowing through Mohammadpur upazila headquarters in Magura district, faces extinction as most of the water body, excavated around 400 years ago, has been occupied and filled up by unscrupulous encroachers.Photo: STAR
Four century old Madhuar Khal, a canal flowing through Mohammadpur upazila headquarters under the district, now faces threat of extinction as unscrupulous people have constructed different establishments on its bank, making the once 21-foot-wide canal appear only 6 to 7 feet wide in most places. The two-kilometre-long canal was excavated about 400 years ago during the Mughal period, according to 'Mohammadpurer Itikotha' (history of Mohammadpur) written by late Lutful Kabir, a local historian. The canal falls into the Madhumati River through Raipasha canal in the south and Katlarsurir Beel in the north. Five culverts over its course still bear the testimony to the once profusely flowing water body. Documents at Mohammadpur upazila land office show that in both State Acquisition (SA) map drawn in 1962 and Cadastral Survey (CS) map drawn in early twentieth century give clear evidence of the 21-feet wide canal's existence. But as encroachers have filled up most of its bed to construct buildings for residential and other purposes, flow of the canal has drastically fallen and it dries up in summer and overflows in rainy season, locals said. During the recent survey, some unscrupulous people with the connivance of dishonest land officials also got different parts of the canal recorded as their private properties, sources said. "Although filling up the canal and other water bodies threatens ecological disaster, Water Development Board (WDB) in Magura has been turning a blind eye," said Abu Imam Mohammad Baker, executive director of Integrated Social and Agricultural Development Organisation, a local NGO working for environment protection. Expressing ignorance about any irregularities regarding the canal, Apurba Kumar Bhoumik, executive engineer of WDB in Magura, said, "We will take action after proper investigation in this regard." "We want immediate recovery of the canal bed as it had been serving irrigational purpose in around five thousand hectares of cropland in the area. It also plays role in removing water stagnation in the residential area," said Mohammad Akhtaruzzaman, chairman of Mohammadpur Sadar union parishad.
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