'Dhaka WASA fails to dredge 10 canals'
Dhaka WASA is responsible for reducing waterlogging in Dhaka city. The Drainage (management and maintenance) Circle of the company performs this duty at the field level. Maintenance of canals and drains is the main task of this circle
Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA) is responsible to look after the canals that are the only ways to drain rainwaters from Dhaka city. But the organisation did not dredge and clean at least 10 of the 26 canals in the outgoing fiscal, said several officials of concerned department of the WASA.
People involved with the organisation are fearing waterlogging in several parts of the capital city for this year as well.
Dhaka WASA managing director Taksim A Khan told Prothom Alo on 8 June, "We have completed all the work as per our target (re-dredging and cleaning of about 49km of canals and cleaning of 300km of drains). Water storage capacity has been increased by re-dredging some canals. So, this time the waterlogging will be less than the previous year.”
When asked about the 10 canals out of 26 not being re-dredged and cleaned, the top official of the WASA said that he did not know anything about the matter.
He also claimed to have dredged and cleaned every canal, some in a small scale. The canals that were re-dredged last year might have been just cleaned this year.
Drainage Circle officials said they did not clean any canals this time. As for land acquisition and excavation/ re-excavation projects in Hazaribagh, Baishteki, Kurmitola, Manda and Begunbari canals, the progress of the project, which is scheduled to be completed by December this year, is only 1.5 per cent. As per this data, WASA did not do anything in the 10 canals out of 26
Dhaka WASA is responsible for reducing waterlogging in Dhaka city. The Drainage (management and maintenance) Circle of the company performs this duty at the field level. Maintenance of canals and drains is the main task of this circle.
The rainwater of Dhaka city is mainly discharged through 385km-long drains, 10km box culverts and 80km-long 26 canals owned by the WASA. According to WASA, it has set targets of cleaning 24 canals (48.75km), 7km box culverts and 300km drains in the current financial year.
The Prothom Alo correspondent could not find the exact data of the number of canals and drains that have been cleaned.
However, an official in charge of the Drainage Circle, on condition of anonymity, said they have cleaned most of the drains. Asked about the canal, he said the drainage circle has not cleaned or dug any canal this year as there was no allocation. However, canal maintenance has been done through another WASA project, he added.
Talking to the people involved with the project titled 'Dhaka Metropolitan Drainage Network Expansion and Canal Development Project', it is learned that the project was passed in May 2018. There are 16 canals under this project worth about Tk 5.5 billion. The project was expected to be completed in December this year. But only 19.16 per cent of the project was completed till February.
An official involved with the project said on condition of anonymity that Tk 600 million has been allocated for the project in the current financial year. Some of the canals under the project have been cleaned and some have been dredged with the funds. Work on the project is still underway.
However, out of the 10 canals outside the project, five were to be included in another separate project (Land acquisition and excavation/ re-excavation project in Hazaribagh, Baishteki, Kurmitola, Manda and Begunbari canals) and maintenance and development of the remaining five canals is to be done through Drainage Circle of WASA.
Drainage Circle officials said they did not clean any canals this time. As for land acquisition and excavation/ re-excavation projects in Hazaribagh, Baishteki, Kurmitola, Manda and Begunbari canals, the progress of the project, which is scheduled to be completed by December this year, is only 1.5 per cent. As per this data, WASA did not do anything in the 10 canals out of 26.
Speaking to Prothom Alo, Bangladesh Institute of Planners general secretary Adil Muhammad Khan said, "We are not able to make the best use of all the canals we have. If all the canals were cleaned, at least it would be known how much they can reduce the level of waterlogging. It is necessary to clean the canals every year to ensure its maximum use, rather than taking up scattered new projects.”
“There has not been any major work to resolve the waterlogging problem in the city. The reality is, there will be inundation due to rainwaters and people will suffer again,” he added.
*This report, originally published in Prothom Alo print edition, has been rewritten in English by Farjana Liakat