Jhaudia is an attractive place for the travelers if they want to do something different. There is a wetlands named Chapai Gachhi Beel (not sure if this one is known as Jhaudia beel) located there. Local people also call this wetland Nainda Majhi Para Beel (or Nandia). This is just around 5-10 minutes of rickshaw rides from Jhaudia Shahi mosque. This is a nice natural place to explore during winter, rainy season, or summer. It is a nice meeting point of several rivers and canals.
This is not listed anywhere for the travelers. But this spot caught my attention when I saw the map. I found an arc shaped area inside the map where 5 rivers (or canal) joined together. So I planned to visit the place to see and know what actually the place is. You can find the map in the below image, and I marked the area with a black rectangle.
During my visit it was a dry season (typical summer of May). Water level was so low that you could almost see the muddy bottom of the Beel (wetland). Also due to the dry season it made the shape of the wetland too narrow. After talking with the local people I came to know that during the rainy season this wetland looks very beautiful and it has a prolific amount of flows in the water.
Most of the villagers near the proximity of the Chapaigachhi Beel are living on fishing from there along with few cultivation. 80% of them are fishermen. Due to the dry season some people use to work at farms or pulling vans or rickshaws as a part time seasonal job. Local people are very frank and friendly. They helped me a lot by providing company and information during our exploration. It would have been nice to have some boat riding there but I couldn’t as I didn’t see any.
I already knew that it was the meeting point for several rivers. So I asked the fishermen about the rivers. But they didn’t know the exact name of the rivers. But they said that the Beel would get an inflow of water combined from three rivers and two canals. One of the river names they said was Kali Gang, and the two canal names were Dakatia Khaal and Sagarkhali Khaal. This is what they knew more or less.
The hospitality of the local people were such lovely that it convinced us to go there once again in Winter season. They claim that during the winter a lot of migratory birds visit the Chapaigachhi Beel. They call those birds Bideshi Hash (Foreign Duck). They assured us that the colorful birds would make us happy if we could come once again in winter. I believed them cause the Beel was vast and it could easily draw attention from the migratory birds.
How to Go:
Take the bus of Kushtia-Haushpur from the Chourhash mor of Kushtia town. We Left the bus at Jhaudia and it cost us around 20 Taka (as of 2010). From there take a local vehicle to reach Jhaudia. You could hire a three wheeler like van or rickshaw to explore the area.
Chapai Gachhi Beel (or Jhaudia Beel),
Jhaudia,
District: Kushtia,
Country: Bangladesh,
GPS coordinate (23°47’21.5″N, 89°02’28.1″E).
Written by Lonely Traveler,
For blog alonelytraveler.com
Sunday, 09th May 2010
