The history and haziness of ‘canal restoration’ mega project in Bangladesh

The programme began in the last century’s late seventies in Bangladesh with the re-excavation of the 'Betravati River' from Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay's famous novel ‘Pather Panchali’. The second programme was taken into the mythological 'Brahmaputra River'. But this ‘river’ restoration programme later came to be known as the 'canal’ restoration programme, and has remained a mystery!

History  

When Ziaur Rahman started such a programme by inaugurating the re-excavation work of the 'Betna River' in the Ulshi area of Sharsha Sub-district Upazila in Jessore on November 1, 1976, he was still the Chief of Army Staff and Deputy Chief Martial Law Administrator. Even when he inaugurated the Brahmaputra River re-excavation work in Mymensingh as the second such programme on December 17 of that year, he was yet to be the president of the country. 

It is clear that after assuming the office of President on April 21, 1977, Ziaur Rahman issued instructions to every sub-district in the country on August 20 to 'implement projects like Ulshi' (Muhammad Habibur Rahman, Bangladesh Tarikh, Maula Brothers, February 2001). 

Needless to say, the 'canal digging programme' held a prominent place throughout Ziaur Rahman's rule. Barrister Moudud Ahmed, who was the Deputy Prime Minister in his government, later wrote, 'In late 1979, Zia started a countrywide canal digging programme. This was part of his revolutionary programme to increase agricultural production. On this occasion, he travelled from one end of the country to the other and participated in the work of digging or re-digging canals, and in some cases, he himself joined in with a spade in hand. Although in many cases the voluntary participation in canal digging seemed to be mere propaganda, this plan motivated thousands of villagers to take part in constructive work and created great enthusiasm and excitement in the public mind for Zia's personal initiative and role' (Democracy and the Challenge of Development: A Perspective on Politics and Military Rule in Bangladesh, The University Press Limited, 1995).

Salehuddin Ahmed, the finance adviser to the recently departed interim government of Bangladesh and former Central Bank governor, wrote, 'The canal cutting project was an epoch-making decision in terms of development. Many have criticised President Zia for gathering people and then inaugurating the canal cutting in front of them. That is a different matter. There may be debates about the implementation of this programme. But the intention was noble, and that should be admitted. I myself have seen how much the canal digging has benefited the people' (Governor's Memoir, Banik Barta, 2019).

Promise versus Implementation  

However, after taking responsibility for running the country, the BNP is now moving forward with the 'canal restoration' programme on a priority basis, in line with its election manifesto. One of the two issues that the cabinet decided on in its first meeting, a day after the government was sworn in on February 17, was 'river-canal-reservoir excavation and re-excavation'. The administrative process has already begun.

A gazette notification was issued on February 23 to form an 8-member cell on 'nationwide river-canal-reservoir excavation and re-excavation' programme with Adviser Mirza Abbas Uddin Ahmed as the president and Secretary of the Ministry of Water Resources Dr AKM Shahabuddin as the member secretary. The members of the cell include secretaries from the ministries of Land, Agriculture, Relief and Disaster Management, the Local Government Division, the Chief Engineer of the Local Government Engineering Department, and the Director General of the Water Development Board. The cell's scope of work includes formulating annual action plans, coordinating ongoing and implementable projects and programmes, monitoring and guiding, and creating public awareness and social movements.

The Local Government Division has also requested 'sending information related to canal excavation' in a letter signed on February 26. The information that must be sent by all Divisional Commissioner offices and municipalities under its jurisdiction by March 4 includes whether any canal has already been excavated and, if so, its length; details of more canals that need to be excavated; how many kilometres of canals will be excavated in the next 180 days; and how many kilometres of canals need to be excavated to resolve waterlogging in the municipal area.

I assume that similar instructions have been given to the field administration at the district and sub-district or upazila levels. This is because some upazila administrations' Facebook pages have already called on citizens to suggest 'the name of the most important and suitable canal' under the 'canal excavation and re-excavation' programme.

It is noteworthy that the re-excavation of canals or rivers, whether as an election promise or in terms of necessity, has already become 'confused' with 'river' and 'canal' in the official discourse. Although the Prime Minister's Office refers to 'river-canal-reservoir excavation and re-excavation', the Local Government Department says 'canal excavation'. Meanwhile, the upazila administration says 'canal excavation and re-excavation'.

Confusion

During the election campaign, in response to questions from various media outlets about the need for clarification on this confusion, I expressed my views on Facebook as follows.

First, will 20,000 kilometres of canals or rivers be excavated? Or will both total 20,000 kilometres? Will new canals be excavated, or will existing canals be excavated or restored? Those who raise this question are debating whether it is possible to excavate about 11 kilometres per day if 20,000 kilometres are excavated in five years or 1,825 days. This is because one team will not excavate in a single area. If multiple teams carry out excavation work simultaneously in different parts of the country, it is very possible to excavate several times that amount per day.

Secondly, it is important to remember that the environmental and geographical conditions of 1977–81 and now are not the same. As far as is known, about 6,000 kilometres of canals were excavated through more than 250 projects. It should be remembered that only the Farakka Barrage was operational on the Ganges at that time. There were no Indian dams or barrages upstream of the Teesta, Gumti, Muhuri, Khowai, Someswari, Piyain, Dahuk, and so on. There were no Chinese dams upstream of the Brahmaputra or Indian dams on the tributaries of the Brahmaputra. As a result, the situation is not exactly the same as in the seventies. The canal excavations of that time may not be useful in the same scale and method now; we have to think afresh in the new reality.

Thirdly, to restore the flow of the canals and rivers at present, we have to ensure basin-rights with India, China, Nepal, and Bhutan regarding the flow that is disrupted or blocked upstream in various ways. If we cannot ensure water from upstream, it will be difficult to keep the canals operational throughout the year, especially during the dry season, although it will not be a problem during the rainy season.

Fourthly, the technical capacity for this huge undertaking must be ensured. We must be aware of the adverse effects on the environment and ecology. Special consideration must be given to the management of excavated soil. For this, more detailed planning and feasibility studies are needed.

Fifthly, special emphasis was placed on dredging rivers and canals in particular areas during the Awami League period. There was a claim for restoration of about 4,000 kilometres of waterways in 14 years from 2009. In addition, a 'dredging master plan' was adopted in 2020 to re-dredge another 10,000 kilometres in 178 rivers. But the success there is not clear, mainly due to the lack of good governance. On the one hand, the morphological scope or river-bed of many rivers has been narrowed while re-dredging, while on the other hand, the lack of management of the excavated soil has hindered the connection of wetlands and land with the river, causing extensive damage to the environment and biodiversity. In addition, there are allegations of river soil being removed erratically and sold out in the name of excavation. 

There must be an assurance that it will not be repeated in the excavation or re-excavation of 20,000 kilometres of canals or rivers announced by the BNP.

Sixthly, in the implementation of such 'mega projects', planning accuracy, technical excellence, transparency of financing, and good governance in implementation must be ensured. Needless to say, this statement remains relevant.

Definitions and Numbers

That means, in this excavation or re-excavation programme, it is not enough to simply clarify whether it is river or canal; at the same time, the question of the formal definition of the two types of watercourses also comes to the fore. I have been writing about the need for a legal definition of rivers for several years. For example, 'The Canal Act, 1864, was the first document related to rivers, water, and the environment among the laws and regulations in Bangladesh. And in 2013, the Bangladesh Water Act was enacted. In the past 150 years, 31 more laws and regulations have been enacted, which are directly or indirectly related to rivers. But the definition of a river has not been defined anywhere' (Daily Samakal, September 26, 2020).

However, in 2023, the National River Conservation Commission determined a 'working definition' while determining the number of rivers. The definition states: 'A river or stream is a watercourse that originates naturally from a mountain, a glacier, a lake, a waterfall, a stream, any other water body or any other water body and flows naturally between two banks throughout the year or at some time of the year and falls into the sea, the ocean, a lake, any other water body. Notwithstanding anything in the above definition, whatever is mentioned as a river or stream in the cadastral survey, revisional survey, and revisional survey records in Bangladesh shall be considered as a river' (Sheikh Rokan, Definition of Rivers, Numbers and Fears, Daily Samakal, September 2, 2023).

It is noteworthy that the synonyms of river have not been considered in the definition of the River Conservation Commission either. As a result, there is confusion. For example, many rivers in South Bengal or coastal areas are known as canals. 'Don' is a synonym for river, like 'Khakdon' in Barguna district. Again, there is 'Bharani' in the Sundarbans area. That definition does not even include the natural ecology of the river.

The length of the river is also important because all ancient dictionaries and documents mention a minimum length. For example, the 'Bachaspatya Dictionary' says: 'A natural watercourse that does not flow 9 miles and 160 yards is a mere earthen hole.' For example, the Bangla Academy Dictionary states, 'A river is a waterway that is more than four kilometres long.' 

My observation is that if a river is less than three kilometres long, it is difficult to identify its separate basin because it 'overlaps' with the basins of the source and downstream rivers. In the case of rivers less than three kilometres long, the basin and the ecology cannot be identified for this reason. Apart from this, if a stream comes out of a river and falls back into that river, then its middle part is just a char. There are many such streams in the Jamuna, Padma, and Meghna. If it is more than this, it can be a river; for example, the Kakri River in Dinajpur district comes out of the Atrai and falls back into the Atrai. For another example, the Dhanagoda River in Chandpur district comes out of the Meghna and falls back into the Meghna. Apart from this, the question of rivers and canals must be clarified in the definition because in Nepal, Bhutan, Assam, and Bengal, khala, khal, and khali are synonyms for river. Since this is not clear, many rivers are being put at risk by calling them canals.

In my opinion, the definition of a river should be like this: 'A watercourse that originates naturally from or is connected to a glacier or lake or spring or any other water body or stream and has a natural environment or is man-made, but is 20 years old and has a natural environment or has been recognised by the highest court and is more than three kilometres long is called a river. A river can be perennial or seasonal and can fall into the sea, the ocean, a lake, or any other water body. The synonyms for river in Bengal are nad, khal, khali, jhora, chhara, bharani, don, gang, dangra, daha, tatini, tarangini, srotaswini, kallolini, beni.'

The same can be said in the case of canals; even if we accept the programme in question as 'canal excavation' for the sake of argument, the question arises as to which 'canal' it is. Is it a natural waterway or man-made? It must be remembered that 'canal' is one of the synonyms of river. Again, some canals were excavated by humans, but later their own environment was created and they became rivers. For example, the Rupsaha's Canal became the Rupsa River in Khulna district. 

There is a danger of rivers being called 'canal' while excavating or re-excavating them. Because, in Bangladesh, canals are seen as the less important waterbody than the river. Some say that many rivers, due to the excitement of Ziaur Rahman's canal excavation programme in the seventies, later got the name 'canal'. This time too, the signs of this are clear. For example, Rumin Farhana, an elected member of parliament from Brahmanbaria-2 constituency, has given a 'D.O. letter' for the excavation of 15 canals in her area. I can see that she has also added the Kudalia and Lakhau rivers to the list of 'canals'.

For example, when the Roumari Upazila administration of Kurigram district invited citizens to suggest names under the 'excavating or re-excavating of canals' programme on Facebook, most of the commenters mentioned the two well-known rivers there, Jinjiram and Sonabhori.

Many may recall that the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) published a division-wise 'List of Canals, Ponds, Bills and Hill Streams, etc.' in 2023. A total of 10,642 'Canals' from 8 divisions – Rangpur, Rajshahi, Khulna, Mymensingh, Dhaka, Barishal, Sylhet, and Chittagong – were included there; although a mixture of canals and rivers was also seen there.

Conclusion  

Undoubtedly, there is no alternative to reviving the country's small rivers and canals in the existing system. This will make it easier to manage water resources and deal with the impact of climate change. It will have a positive impact on agricultural irrigation, fisheries, local navigation, and even recreation. The capacity to hold water during the rainy season and the opportunity to use it throughout the year will increase greatly. Before that, it must be clarified – canal or river; excavation or re-excavation. And to clarify that, there is no alternative to the legal definition of rivers and canals.

Once the definition of canals and rivers is finalised, a major task for the newly elected BNP government will be to finalise the list of canals. In this case, the non-final list of canals prepared by the Water Development Board or the 'mixed' list of LGED can be updated.

Sheikh Rokon: Writer and river researcher  

skrokon@gmail.com

The article was originally published in the print and online editions of The Daily Samakal and has been rewritten for the English version by Mohammed Humayun Kabir, Senior Sub-Editor.