Meghna-Ghashiakhali channel thrives again
UNB, Bagerhat :
Shipping though the Meghna-Ghashiakhali channel of the Kumarkhali River thrives again as the authorities are allowing a limited number of vessels to ply the route during high tides on an experimental basis, one month ahead of the formal
reopening of the long-abandoned river route.
The BIWTA on July 1 last year started the dredging of a 22-km stretch of the 31-km-long Mongla-Ghashiakhali channel, which lost the navigability three and a half years back, under a Tk-250 crore project.
Though the formal reopening of the channel was slated for June, the authorities are now allowing a limited number of vessels which are upto eight metres in depth. In three days’ time from Wednesday till Friday, more than 60 ships and cargoes have crossed the channel, according to BIWTA.
As the partial re-excavation of the channel has already been completed, tidal flows are making their ways into the channel even during the low tides, our UNB correspondent found during a recent visit to the area.
The people of Rampal Ghat area used to cross the Kumarkhali River on foot just three months ago as the channel had dried out of water due to siltation, but over the last few days small scale navigation is taking place as the water was flowing in the channel even during the low tides, Delwar Hossain, a boatman at Rampal Ghat, told the UNB correspondent.
The reappearance of the tides into the river has brought fresh hopes among the people of the area as it also brings prospects of regeneration in the local fisheries and agriculture, he said.
The re-excavation of the channel will also relieve the local people from the water stagnation that they have been enduring over the last couple of years during the rainy season.
Shipping though the Meghna-Ghashiakhali channel of the Kumarkhali River thrives again as the authorities are allowing a limited number of vessels to ply the route during high tides on an experimental basis, one month ahead of the formal
reopening of the long-abandoned river route.
The BIWTA on July 1 last year started the dredging of a 22-km stretch of the 31-km-long Mongla-Ghashiakhali channel, which lost the navigability three and a half years back, under a Tk-250 crore project.
Though the formal reopening of the channel was slated for June, the authorities are now allowing a limited number of vessels which are upto eight metres in depth. In three days’ time from Wednesday till Friday, more than 60 ships and cargoes have crossed the channel, according to BIWTA.
As the partial re-excavation of the channel has already been completed, tidal flows are making their ways into the channel even during the low tides, our UNB correspondent found during a recent visit to the area.
The people of Rampal Ghat area used to cross the Kumarkhali River on foot just three months ago as the channel had dried out of water due to siltation, but over the last few days small scale navigation is taking place as the water was flowing in the channel even during the low tides, Delwar Hossain, a boatman at Rampal Ghat, told the UNB correspondent.
The reappearance of the tides into the river has brought fresh hopes among the people of the area as it also brings prospects of regeneration in the local fisheries and agriculture, he said.
The re-excavation of the channel will also relieve the local people from the water stagnation that they have been enduring over the last couple of years during the rainy season.
