Teka river encroachment hinders flow of 27 Bhavadah swamps

Rampant illegal encroachment has left Teka river, located between Abhaynagar and Manirampur upazilas of Jashore, on deathbed.

Numerous shops and businesses, fish farms and houses have been built up by illegally occupying land of this river, causing it to shrink over the years and while its natural flow and navigability are lost.

Moreover, some unscrupulous fishermen have been using nets in the river for catching fish during monsoon.

The water of 27 swamps of Bhavadah used to flow through Teka river before exiting through Srihari and Mukteshwari rivers.

In its present situation, the river can no longer drain away the swamps' water, thereby restricting their flow and eventually causing waterlogging across vast adjoining areas.

As such, thousands of people from 30 villages under Abhaynagar upazila have been suffering due to persistent flooding and waterlogging over the years, especially in monsoon. Marginal farmers cannot cultivate their croplands for much of the year due to inundation, while fish from hundreds of fish farms get washed away.

According to locals, the situation exacerbated since around 2020.

There was a wooden bridge on Teka river, built in 1990. In 2020, the wooden bridge was demolished after it became vulnerable and unsafe for use. Construction of a new bridge on the river began soon after to connect between the two upazilas.

In this regard, the river was partly filled up and a makeshift bridge was constructed for movement of people during the construction work.

However, even in four years, the construction work could not be completed. Meanwhile, greedy local influential began grabbing lands on both sides of the river to construct different structures, and for fish farms.

The government, meanwhile, allocated funds to excavate the river to restore its flow. However, most of the money got embezzled while some insignificant excavation works were done which did not serve the purpose, alleged locals.

Moreover, the excavated soil was kept on the river banks, and eventually got washed away to the river again during monsoon, leaving the situation unchanged.

This in turn disrupted the flow of water from the 27 swamps through the river, connected by 21 vent sluice-gates on Boyarhat Canal, around three kilometers from the river.

Visiting the riverbank areas recently, this correspondent saw numerous shops, houses and several fish farms built grabbing lands, while earth was dumped across 300 feet width on both sides of the river in an unplanned way.

A 30 feet long makeshift wooden bridge was seen on the river in a dilapidated state, with the construction site of the new bridge nearby.

On October 10, water resources ministry secretary Nazmul Ahsan, director general of Bangladesh Water Development Board Amirul Haque, and Jashore deputy commissioner Md Azharul Islam visited the site and directed for removal of all obstructions to the river's flow.

Feroze Alam, former chairman of local union parishad, said planned steps are necessary to save the river and mitigate the waterlogging woes.

"All illegal structures have to be evicted and the river needs to be excavated properly to restore its flow and navigability," he said.

Contacted, Joydev Chakraborty, upazila nirbahi officer of Abhaynagar, said steps are on to evict the illegal structures on the riverbanks soon.