Traders happy as Shapla Beel abuzz with tourists

Lal Shapla Beel is abuzz with tourists, much to the happiness of local traders. The 15-km-long wetland, where thousands of water lilies of pink colour are in bloom for five months every year, is located in Satla union under Uzirpur upazila and Bagdha union under Agailjhara upazila of Barishal district.

Locals are very happy that tourism business in the scenic area has increased. They have demanded construction of a bungalow in the area and renovation of 10-km-long Ujirpur-Satla road.

The traders said the road has been lying in such awful state for the last three years. When the road was in good condition before 2017, around 2000 people from different parts of the country came to visit here every day during the tourist season but the number of visitors has now decreased by more than 50 percent due to awful condition of the road.

They added that apart from this, the tourists almost stopped visiting Lal Shapla Beel at the beginning of coronavirus. The tourism business in the area was hit hard by the pandemic then.

But their income has increased slightly for the last two months as tourists from Barishal and other adjoining districts started coming to visit the picturesque spot again, said some restaurant traders.

At present, around 1000 tourists come here every day, said boatmen in the area.

Taslim, a local college student, said the beautiful Shapla Beel is actually vast plain land that remains under rainwater from June to October every year. Locals cannot grow anything here during this period. At the time, they depend on the wetland for their livelihood. They actually work as boatmen during the season. 

Boatman Enamul, 42, said every day around 100 people came to visit the wetland at the beginning of the tourist season due to coronavirus outbreak. But at present, a number of tourists on boats come here throughout the day to enjoy the beauty of water lilies. Lilies are now in bloom in the beel.

He now earns around Tk 500 daily by rowing boat, said Enamul.

A tourist has to spend about Tk 500 to enjoy the beauty of water lilies in the beel per day, said Bipul Das, chairman of Bagdha union parishad, adding that Tk 1.50 crore is spent here per month during the tourist season.

Local people have also urged for better infrastructures at the tourist spot.

Deputy Commissioner (DC) SM Ajiar Rahman said various steps will be taken to make the scenic area more attractive for visitors.

They have already sent proposals to the tourism corporation to make Shapla Beel more attractive and tourist-friendly, said the DC.