The 15-km-long Subandhi canal once used to be vital lifeline to around 2,50,000 people of at least 20 villages under Barguna's Amtali upazila.

The villagers used the canal's water for irrigating their croplands, and for numerous domestic purposes. It also served as a waterway connecting different areas in the upazila.

The canal originates from Agunmukha river and flows through Chawra and Haldia unions before joining Chawra canal.

However, construction of two dams over the past years caused obstruction to the canal's natural flow and siltation. Pollution of its water further aggravated its situation, while water hyacinths took over the surface entirely.

As such, the canal's water has become unusable for the local people, while raising different health concerns including spread of water-borne diseases.

Visiting the canal recently, this correspondent saw that its water has turned dark due to pollution, with no flow due to siltation, while its surfaced is completely engulfed by water hyacinths.

According to locals, the Bangladesh Water Development Board had constructed a dam on Chawra canal in 1983, which hindered Subandhi canal's normal flow of water, as well as reduced its capacity to drain away excess water to Agunmukha river during monsoon.

The situation worsened after some locals built a dam on Subandhi canal in 2009, effectively chocking its flow and leaving it on deathbed. Over the past 15 years since then, the canal's water has become stagnant, polluted, and a breeding ground of mosquitoes, while almost all branches of the canal have dried up.

"Many locals once earned a livelihood by catching fish in this canal. People would use its water for numerous household activities, farming, and animal rearing. Now the canal is all but dead. Its water is now unusable. Some locals who do not have tube-wells are compelled to use the canal's water for drinking and other purposes, and have been suffering immensely, including from different health complications," said Abdul Jalil, a resident of Haldia area.

Echoing him, Md Babul Molla, another local, called upon the authorities concerned to excavate the canal, remove the accumulated silt and clean the water hyacinths to turn its water cleaner and useable again.

Contacted, Md Rakib, executive engineer of BWDB in Barguna, said a Tk 2.25 crore project was taken up in 2021 to clean the Subandhi canal.

"However, the project's approval has been delayed following objections from the Planning Commission over some issues. Once the project is approved, necessary measures will be taken to clean the canal, restore its normal flow, and revive its branches," he added.