Restored canal brings relief to residents in Ctg’s Raozan

For years, even light monsoon rains would leave Hajipara, a neighbourhood in Chattogram's Raozan municipality, submerged.

Roads and courtyards turned into temporary ponds, forcing residents indoors and disrupting daily life.

SM Asad Ullah, a former ward councillor, said, "Our neighbourhood's drainage canal -- the Kashkhali -- had become heavily silted with sediment from nearby hills. Even a brief spell of rain used to cause flooding."

Photo: Sifayet Ullah

But this year, the situation has taken a dramatic turn, thanks to the re-excavation of the canal.

"This year, we are yet to face any waterlogging due to restoration of the canal," said SM Asad Ullah.

The canal was re-excavated by the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) under a project titled "Surface Water Irrigation Development Project in Chattogram and Cox's Bazar districts."

During a recent visit to the area, this correspondent observed that the two-kilometre stretch of the canal has been cleared and restored, while an embankment beside the newly excavated canal bank is also under construction.

Raozan Municipality data showed that around 1,800 to 1,900 residents live in the waterlogging-prone area.

The 8.5km Kashkhali canal starts from the hilly area of Raozan and flows into the Kagatia canal, a water body linked directly to the Halda river.

"But there is no waterlogging this year as the canal has been re-excavated after nearly a decade," said Irfan Uddin, an official of the Raozan Municipality.

BADC data showed that the re-excavation of the canal is also expected to restore hope for hundreds of farmers, as reinstating the waterbody would help convert over 560 acres of land into three-crop fields.

Tamal Das, assistant engineer at BADC's Chattogram region, said farmers will now be able to grow vegetables alongside paddy as the canal ensures access to freshwater for irrigation.

Nurul Islam, superintendent engineer of BADC and director of the project, said the canal was re-excavated with the goal of ensuring sustainable improvement in both livelihoods and living conditions.

"Hundreds of farmers and residents had long been suffering due to the poor state of this waterway. But now the suffering is over," he said.