Beel Route Canal
Type: Canal
Contributed By: Nayeem
Brief
The famous Beel Route Canal (বিল রুট ক্যানেল) is situated exactly beside Arpara Munshi Bari of Gopalganj. So after visiting the Munshi Bari, you can enjoy your time for a while at the bank of this canal. This is a straight canal that connects the river Arial Khan at Tekerhat with the river Madhumati at Gopalganj. Main beauty of the canal is the straight line like shape which lies exactly beside the Madaripur-Gopalganj highway. According to Banglapedia, this canal was initially proposed by Sir Arthur Cotton in 1958. But later on the digging process started during 1899. After having several experiments, the canal was later opened for public navigation at 1914. The depth of the canal is more or less around 140 meter on average.
The river Kumar joins with this canal and flows further together until it joins the river Madhumati. Also this canal has taken lot of small canals and wet lands in it. Most of these are from the Madaripur. That’s why people also call this canal as Madaripur Beel Route. You can read more about this Beel Route Canal from the Banglapedia if you have time in hand.
There are few amazing things around that place available. One is, it’s a point where a river (some people say it’s a canal) join this Beel Route Canal and formed a shape of Y. Usual depth of the canal is very deep, but being a converging point, this place is even more deeper than the expectation. That’s why this place is a perfect hideout for the native Dolphins locally known as Sushuk (শুশুক). These giant sized fishes were playing around the water by waving their back over the water surface for a short period of time. These more than evanescent things were happening frequently around us.
After crossing the canal we were waiting at the highway for any kind vehicles that would drop us to our next destination, which was Ulpur. After visiting Ulpur, we had to struggle for a public transport to come back to Tekerhat. We found one after the sunset. And it was possibly the day before the full moon. On the right side of us was a large sized moon on the sky. And on the left side of us was having this massive canal. The whole one and half an hour of journey we have accompanied by these two beautiful things together.
How to go
Beel Route Canal (বিল রুট ক্যানেল) is an amazingly beautiful place to visit which is less crowded as not much people are aware about this. This place is very near from Dhaka. Anyone can visit this place and return back to home within a single day. It’s a huge canal and you can enjoy its beauty from any part/portion you like. In our case the GPS coordinate was (23° 3’6.83″N, 89°48’57.25″E).
There are several bus services use to go from Dhaka to Tekerhat. Using any of those you can come to Tekerhat. The canal starts from there. So you can start exploring from there easily. My suggestion is to take a local bus and keep moving towards the Gopalganj. After enjoying the river for 30/40 minutes during the journey, just leave the bus and start exploring the canal.
How To Reach: Gopalganj District
Gopalganj district is located 140 km away from Dhaka via Mawa Ferry Ghat.
1. Modhumoti Paribahan
Gopalganj to Saydabad/Gulistan via Mawa Ferry Ghat
Mobile: 01716019937 (Gopalganj)
01711900619 (Dhaka)
2. Tungipara Express
Gopalganj to Saydabad/Gulistan via Mawa Ferry Ghat
Mobile: 01716479631 (Gopalganj)
01716211642 (Dhaka)
3. dola Paribahan
Gopalganj to Saydabad/Gulistan via Mawa Ferry Ghat
mobile: 01711311756 (Gopalganj)
01199030181 (Dhaka)
4. Comfort Line
Gopalganj to Saydabad/Gulistan via Paturia Ferry Ghat
Mobile: 01716453061
Where to Stay
1. Circuit House, Gopalganj
Contact to: Nejarot ( নেজারত ) Deputy Collector
Phone: 02-6685234 & 02-6685565
2. Zilla Parishad Cottage, Gopalganj
Contact to: Chief Executive Officer, Zila Parishad
Phone: 0668-61204
3. Hotel Modhumoti, Tungipara, Gopalganj
Contact to: Mr. Sheikh Ahmed Hossain Mirza
Phone: 02-6656349
Mobile: 01712-563227
4. Hotel Rana, Chourangi, Gopalganj
Contact to: Mr. Siraj Uddin Ahmed
Phone: 02-6685172
5. Hotel Shohag, Post Office Road, Gopalganj
Contact to: Mr. Shohrab Hossain
Phone: 0668-61740
Things to do
The village is really wonderful for its scenic beauty.
Eating Facilities
You can find many more hotels and restaurant here to stay and eating. Referred to where to eat in Gopalganj district, click here
