Dhaka deluged despite spending billions

Years go by, ministers and mayors change, yet the waterlogging situation in Dhaka remains the same in monsoon. It seems to have become a rule that several parts of the city will be under water whenever it rains heavily.

The two city corporations of Dhaka spent at least Tk 7.3 billion in the last four years to resolve waterlogging. But the three hours of rain Friday morning has exposed how little we are benefiting from these projects.

According to the weather bulletin of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD), Dhaka recorded some 60 millimetres of rain in three hours from 6:30 am to 9:30 am Friday. It also rained after that, but not that heavily. However, most areas of the city, including Dhanmondi, Green Road, New Market, Motijheel, Arambagh, Kazipara, Rokeya Sarani, Dakkhinkhan, Kalyanpur, Bijoy Sarani, Malibagh and Mouchak were inundated in that three hours of rain Friday morning. Many residential houses and business establishments were submerged in waist-deep water.

But there was not that many people and vehicles on the roads as it was the weekend. But a number of CNG-run auto-rickshaws, buses and cars were seen stranded on the roads as the engines broke down in the water.

This is why the traffic division of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) requested the city dwellers to leave with enough time in hand to reach their destinations. The DMP press release in this regard stated that heavy rains inundated various parts of the city and many cars broke down on the roads resulting in severe traffic congestion.

In particular, DMP mentioned some 22 areas of the capital which were submerged in water, including Fakirapul, Naya Paltan, Baitul Mukarram, Shantinagar, Malibagh intersection, Arambagh, Pragati Sarani, New Market, Dhanmondi Rapa Plaza area, Bongshal, Mirpur Rokeya Sarani, Dayaganj intersection, Sayedabad bus terminal, Nimtali, Toyenbee Circular Road, Dhanmondi-27, Elephant Road, Matsya Bhaban, Karwan Bazar, Bijoy Sarani, Dhaka Gate VIP road and Mirpur Mazar Road. However, there were many more inundated areas in the city.

Many posted images and videos on Facebook of their toiling experience. A Facebook user named Mahmud Sujan shared a photo of the waterlogged Shantinagar area with a caption, “Shantinagar has turned into Buriganga.” A man commented, “It’s the same in Shahjahanpur.”

Facebook user Enamul Haque posted a photo of Mirpur area and wrote, “Venice, Mirpur Branch.” Another Facebook user shared a photo of a child swimming in the water saying, “Won’t go to Cox’s Bazar this year anymore. Maybe next year.”

The main road of the Arambagh area was almost entirely submerged in knee-deep water at around 8:00 pm Friday. Many went live on Facebook sharing their sufferings. Several other areas and roads of the city, including Naya Paltan, were still inundated in the evening yesterday.

This was the situation of the city after the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) spent nearly Tk 3.6 billion in different projects to prevent waterlogging in Dhaka. Sources in the DSCC engineering division confirmed this. Meanwhile, the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC), spent around Tk 3.7 billion in the last four years for the same purpose.

The engineering division officials of the two cities claimed that the waterlogging situation in Dhaka has improved a lot as compared to the past. People will also have to be conscious of the situation for further improvement. People dump polythene waste in drains and canals whimsically, they complained.

The urban planners are saying lack of an integrated plan in activities of the two city corporations to reduce people suffering from waterlogging is quite evident. The situation yesterday once again proved that. What the two city corporations are doing are temporary arrangements only. They are spending money without paying any heed to the mega plan for the city drainage system. It’s not possible to resolve waterlogging without long-term initiatives.

DSCC mayor Sheikh Fazle Nur made commitments in his election manifesto to take necessary initiatives to relieve the city dwellers from the sufferings of waterlogging during monsoon. Four years passed after he took charge. He made various commitments in this time regarding waterlogging.

Addressing an event in the capital’s Wari on 12 February last year, the DSCC mayor said water will be drained within minutes even in case of heavy downpour.

Lately on 19 May, he claimed in a press conference that the waterlogging crisis in Dhaka had come down to 10 per cent from 70 per cent previously.

However, reality tells a different story. Several areas in the DSCC were still submerged even after 12 hours. The DSCC officials themselves admitted that Motijheel, Kamalapur, Green Road and Dhaka College areas were still inundated in the evening.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, DSCC ward-26 councillor Hasibur Rahman said at around 7:00 pm that the road in front of the Salimullah Muslim Hall of the Dhaka University was under water. Same was the situation in the Newmarket area.

DSCC mayor Sheikh Fazle Nur made commitments in his election manifesto to take necessary initiatives to relieve the city dwellers from the sufferings of waterlogging during monsoon. Four years passed after he took charge. He made various commitments in this time regarding waterlogging.

Addressing an event in the capital’s Wari on 12 February last year, the DSCC mayor said water will be drained within minutes even in case of heavy downpour.

Lately on 19 May, he claimed in a press conference that the waterlogging crisis in Dhaka had come down to 10 per cent from 70 per cent previously.

However, reality tells a different story. Several areas in the DSCC were still submerged even after 12 hours. The DSCC officials themselves admitted that Motijheel, Kamalapur, Green Road and Dhaka College areas were still inundated in the evening.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, DSCC ward-26 councillor Hasibur Rahman said at around 7:00 pm that the road in front of the Salimullah Muslim Hall of the Dhaka University was under water. Same was the situation in the Newmarket area.

The responsibility of resolving waterlogging was on the Dhaka WASA (Water Supply and Sewerage Authority) before 2021. Back then, the city corporations used to blame Dhaka WASA for waterlogging.

Later, the main responsibility was officially handed over to the two city corporations on 31 December, 2020. However, the situation hasn’t changed that much.

The two city corporations spent nearly Tk 7.3 billion in total in the last four years to resolve the problem. The two city corporations’ allocation for projects to prevent waterlogging was nearly Tk 2 billion in the last fiscal too.

Sources in WASA and the two city corporations say in all, at least Tk 30 billion has been spent over a decade to solve the waterlogging problem in the city.

The DNCC officials say they have the capacity to drain out a maximum of 55 mm rainfall within a short spell. They are helpless in case of more rain, they say.

Speaking to Prothom Alo on condition of anonymity a DNCC engineer said they only have cleared up the floating wastes from the canals. So they are not getting the desired outcome.

Witnessing the severity of waterlogging in the city, the then local government minister Khandaker Mosharrof Hossain said in 2017, “I promise you that there will be no waterlogging in the city next year.”

However, the people of the city witnessed severe waterlogging in the city’s Dhanmondi Road 27, Shantinagar and Bangshal areas even in case of a light rain that year. These areas were under water till the evening yesterday too.

The DSCC spent nearly Tk 1 billion to resolve waterlogging in Shantinagar and adjacent areas. However, the situation hasn’t changed that much. The entire area of Shantinagar was submerged in yesterday’s rain. The DSCC also spent Tk 210 million two years ago to solve the problem in Dhanmondi-27 area. The area was under water for about eight hours yesterday.

Since taking over from Dhaka WASA, the two city authorities have been working on cleaning up the canals and box culverts. However, urban experts say the problem won’t be solved only by keeping the canals clean. There are several phases in the process of rain water receding to rivers through drains and canals. The authorities will have to focus on these too.

The engineers say rain water recedes through the catch pits into the drains below the roads. Many catch pits and drain mouths are blocked now. The drains are almost worn out too. The canals’ water holding capacity has also declined as their depth decreased due to sedimentation. The two city corporations must stress increasing the depths of the canals.

The DSCC took up a project to revive and beautify four city canals in October 2022. The deadline for this Tk 8.98-billion-project ends in June 2027. However, 21 months have passed before even starting the work properly. The waste management division of the corporation didn’t remove that much of waste from these canals in this time either.

Speaking regarding this, urban planner Akter Mahmud remarked that the city corporations have no way to evade the liability of waterlogging. He told Prothom Alo, “There are some regular and small patches of works in the process of resolving waterlogging. Keeping the canals and drains is one such basic step. And the two city corporations are doing only this ignoring other steps.”

“Their initiatives for a permanent solution to the waterlogging problem in the city are not visible so far. The drainage system should be constructed considering the maximum rainfall. However, none of these have ever been done.”

*This report appeared on the print and online versions of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Ashish Basu