Once a fathomless sanctuary teeming with indigenous freshwater species and serving as a vital lifeline for local communities along the Karatoya River in Bogura, the historic deep reservoir known locally as Gosair Dah has gradually vanished due to environmental degradation, shifting river courses, and unchecked encroachment. On Friday afternoon (Sept 29), a field visit to the Gosainpara area on the northern side of Sherpur municipality revealed a drastically altered landscape, where a significant portion of the once-perennial water body is now choked with water hyacinths, bearing little resemblance to its prosperous past.
Elderly residents recall a time when the natural basin was so deep that even extraordinarily long bamboo poles failed to touch its bed. Paresh Chandra Saha, a 90-year-old resident of Gosainpara, recounted that during his youth, the reservoir retained water year-round while supporting abundant populations of indigenous fish varieties such as Boal, Air, Chital, Rui, and Katla. Historical accounts indicate that approximately 25 years ago, locals constructed an earthen embankment across the middle of the dah to facilitate communication between the Nababrindabanpara and Mahipur villages. Over subsequent decades, anthropogenic pressures, siltation, and artificial alterations to the Karatoya River's flow catalyzed the steady demise of the ecosystem.
Beyond its ecological significance as a primary breeding ground for native fish species that once replenished the wider river, the reservoir held profound socioeconomic and cultural value. For generations, local fishers depended on the dah for their daily livelihoods, while the adjacent cremation ground and sacred waters served as sites for traditional Hindu religious rituals and community gatherings. Local traders and residents, including Abiron Khatun, 65, Ranjan Dutta, 57, and Ananda Hawaldar, 50, lamented that the diversion of water flow by cutting earth on the eastern riverbank destroyed the natural basin, effectively eradicating both the fish population and the traditional income streams of local fishing families.
Local stakeholders have urgently called for comprehensive remediation measures, emphasizing that restoring the water body requires evicting illegal occupiers and dredging the Karatoya River along its historical course. Addressing these concerns, Suboj Kumar Shil, sub-assistant engineer of the Bogura Water Development Board, stated that authorities have formulated plans to dredge the river along its former trajectory, with preliminary activities already underway to revive the dying waterway.
Meanwhile, Sherpur Upazila Acting Senior Fisheries Officer Iqbal Hossain, who assumed his office on September 29, acknowledged that he would look into the historical ecological status of Gosair Dah and assess potential interventions to protect the remaining aquatic habitat. Environmental observers note that the disappearance of Gosair Dah underscores a broader crisis facing rural wetlands in Bangladesh, where the loss of interconnected river basins continues to threaten regional biodiversity, traditional heritage, and the rural economy.
