For hundreds of years, water has formed the identification of Bengal. Bangladesh’s rivers and canals are greater than waterways—they’re lifelines for agriculture, transport, and resilience towards floods. Bengal’s historical past even exhibits that irrigation canals have been dug almost three thousand years in the past.
Dhaka itself as soon as boasted round 65 canals, connecting neighborhoods and easing monsoon waterlogging. Right this moment, surveys range: some checklist 43–50 nonetheless functioning, whereas others counsel solely 26 stay. The decline has been stark. A research by the River and Delta Analysis Centre (RDRC) discovered the capital misplaced almost 120 km of canal size—about 307 hectares—for the reason that Forties to encroachment and neglect.
Dhaka: As soon as a “Metropolis of Canals”
Lengthy earlier than vehicles and concrete, water formed Dhaka’s story. Within the Mughal period, the town was referred to as the “Venice of the East.” Canals like Dholaikhal, Segunbagicha, and Narinda have been busy commerce routes. They related rivers to markets and carried boats stuffed with jute, spices, and textiles.
When Subedar Islam Khan made Dhaka the capital of Bengal within the early 1600s, he ordered the digging of Dholaikhal. It boosted commerce and in addition protected the town from floods. These canals have been greater than waterways—they have been a part of Dhaka’s tradition, economic system, and security. Shedding them isn’t just an environmental subject. It additionally means dropping a part of the town’s identification and historical past.
From Useful resource to Threat
Right this moment, that proud legacy is in peril. Unplanned progress, unlawful land grabs, rubbish dumping, and neglect have turned flowing canals into stagnant waste pits. The place boats as soon as moved and youngsters performed, individuals now face dangerous smells, mosquito swarms, and waterborne ailments.
The worth is excessive. Dhaka’s two metropolis companies spent greater than Tk 30 billion up to now 12 years preventing waterlogging. But residents nonetheless undergo. Research present that in some years, poor households misplaced as much as 8% of their revenue because of flood injury, well being care prices, and misplaced workdays.
Misplaced & Surviving Canals of Dhaka
| Canal Identify | Present Standing | Situation / Points |
| Dholaikhal | Misplaced | Field-culverted, stuffed; as soon as a significant canal in Outdated Dhaka |
| Segunbagicha Canal | Misplaced | Crammed/encroached, no circulation |
| Kathalbagan Canal | Misplaced | Disappeared, constructed over |
| Narinda Canal | Misplaced | As soon as vibrant, now misplaced to growth |
| Panthapath Canal | Misplaced | Fully stuffed |
| Dhalpur Canal | Misplaced | Now not exists |
| Pandu River/Canal | Misplaced | Disappeared, as soon as related city lakes |
| Miran Jalla | Misplaced | Recognized as vanished in waterbody research |
| Begunbari Canal | Survives poorly | Narrowed, encroached, polluted |
| Hazaribagh Canal | Survives poorly | Common width decreased to ~8.8m; waste-filled |
| Katasur Canal | Survives poorly | Decreased to ~6m width; heavy encroachment |
| Khilgaon-Basabo Canal | Survives poorly | Choked with strong waste; circulation obstructed |
| Baistake Canal | Survives poorly | So crammed with waste that folks can stroll throughout |
Sources: Dhaka Tribune, The Every day Star, RDRC, ResearchGate research
Well being & Social Impacts of Misplaced Canals
The lack of canals has not solely harm drainage but additionally made well being dangers worse. Stagnant, garbage-filled water turns into an ideal breeding floor for mosquitoes. This has led to rising instances of dengue and chikungunya. The World Well being Group warns that poor water methods in South Asian cities gas the unfold of those ailments.
For low-income households, clogged canals imply flooded properties, unsafe ingesting water, and better medical payments. A research in 2017 discovered that some households in Dhaka misplaced as much as 8% of their yearly revenue due to flood injury and well being prices.
Kids face the most important hazard. Polluted water causes diarrheal illness, which continues to be one of many most important causes of kid deaths in Bangladesh.
Local weather Resilience and Flood Safety
Dhaka constantly ranks among the many world’s most climate-vulnerable cities. With extra intense rainfall, the chance of flash floods grows yearly. Canals act as pure buffers, absorbing extra stormwater and channeling it into rivers. When they’re blocked or encroached upon, water has nowhere to go—resulting in hours and even days of waterlogging.
Restoring canals is greater than an city beautification undertaking; it’s a low-cost, nature-based adaptation technique. Whereas Dhaka invests billions in pumps and drainage methods, research present that reviving simply 15 canals might remedy as much as 80% of waterlogging issues.
A Collaborative Effort: #CholoKhaalBachai#
In the midst of this disaster, Berger Paints Bangladesh and Footsteps Bangladesh began the #CholoKhaalBachai# marketing campaign. It’s a volunteer-led effort to carry canals again to life. Their newest work targeted on the Bottola Mazar Canal in Hazaribagh, which had turn out to be little greater than an open rubbish pit.
In simply 12 days, greater than thousand volunteers and residents eliminated 35 truckloads of waste. For the primary time in years, water might circulation once more. The cleanup decreased flooding, improved air high quality, and lowered well being dangers for a whole lot of households.
“This isn’t charity—it’s survival,” one native chief mentioned. “We can not afford to lose our canals.”
Linking Native Motion to International Objectives
This undertaking connects instantly with the United Nations Sustainable Growth Objectives, particularly SDG 6 (Clear Water and Sanitation) and SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities).
Berger Paints has additionally labored to scale back air pollution. The corporate now makes lead-free, low-VOC, and APEO-free paints. It even launched Bangladesh’s first anti-pollution paint that absorbs greenhouse gases. However past merchandise, the true lesson is within the mannequin: a enterprise, a youth nonprofit, and the neighborhood working collectively for city renewal.
Coverage & Governance Challenges
But, large challenges stay. Dhaka WASA, RAJUK, and the town companies all share canal tasks, however their coordination is weak. Legal guidelines exist to cease land grabs, however enforcement is poor.
Encroachment continues. Builders, generally highly effective ones, take land alongside canals. Cleanup drives are launched, however rubbish and unlawful constructions usually return inside months. With out stronger oversight, these efforts threat changing into symbolic as a substitute of lasting.
Specialists say Dhaka wants one lead authority for its water our bodies. They name for more durable legislation enforcement, neighborhood monitoring, and long-term planning to make canal restoration everlasting.
Past One Canal: What Comes Subsequent?
The cleanup of the Bottola Mazar Canal is an enormous win, however the work can not cease right here. To maintain canals alive, consultants say Dhaka wants:
- Group monitoring to cease individuals from dumping waste once more.
- Coverage enforcement to dam land grabs.
- Public training so individuals see the hyperlink between trash and water security.
- Scaling up the mannequin to revive Dhaka’s 26–50 remaining canals.
Different cities present this could work. Singapore and Ahmedabad, India cleaned up their waterways by robust partnerships between the private and non-private sectors. Dhaka can adapt these classes in its personal means.
Future Imaginative and prescient: A Dhaka with Restored Canals
Dreaming of a Dhaka with clear canals is just not fantasy—it’s potential. Restored canals might carry:
- Much less flooding and decrease restore prices for households.
- Higher well being, with fewer waterborne ailments.
- Inexperienced corridors, new parks, and even eco-tourism.
- Financial progress, since properties close to clear water rise in worth.
Cities like Seoul reworked with the Cheonggyecheon Stream undertaking, and Singapore’s Kallang Basin blends flood management with recreation. Dhaka, too, can see canals not as drains however as treasures—a part of a secure, trendy, and livable metropolis.
Editorial Takeaway
The revival of Bottola Mazar Canal exhibits what is feasible when companies, nonprofits, and residents unite. It isn’t simply CSR—it’s a imaginative and prescient for city survival.
For Dhaka, the stakes are excessive: clear canals imply decreased flooding, higher well being, and a extra livable metropolis. For Bangladesh, initiatives like #CholoKhaalBachai# might mark the start of a brand new mindset—the place waterways are protected as crucial infrastructure somewhat than deserted as waste pits.
As one volunteer put it: “We cleared rubbish, however what we actually restored was hope.”