A children’s painting competition was held on the bank of the Jail Canal in Nazirer Pol area of the city on Friday noon calling for immediate steps to save Jail Khal. The event titled 'We are the witness of ages' organised by 'combined committee for saving rivers and canals'. it  was presided over by development activist Anowar Zahid. More than 20 children participated in the competition divided into two groups. Later a discussion meeting and prize giving ceremony was held at the venue. It was addressed among others by A K Azad, Nurul Alam Farid, Shuvangkar Chakraborty, Lincon Bayen, Obaidul Huq Masum, Rafikul Alam, Sushanta Ghosh. They said once upon a time Barisal was called as 'Venice of Bengal' for its more than 22 canals flowing inside the town. Now most of the canals either sealed, polluted, silted or grabbed and only 3 including Jail Canal existed some how. So we are calling for immediate steps to save this Jail Khal by excavation, beautification, constructing walk way on both sides and evicting the grabbers. At the end of the programme six competitors from two groups were awarded prizes.