Authorities concerned, including the two Dhaka city corporations, are failing to reduce waterlogging as a number of plans like demarcation, recovery and excavation of canals and cleaning water run-off lines remain incomplete for years.

The city dwellers said after a brief spell of rain, many parts of Dhaka city including Jurain, Bangshal, Nayapaltan, Malibagh, Kamalapur, Dhanmondi, Kazipara and Shewrapara in Mirpur, Vatara, Airport road and Dakkhinkhan roads go under knee- to waist-deep water that don’t recede for a couple of hours.

The residents of the city suffer immensely due to waterlogging on roads as they have to wade through pitch-black sewer water, while traffic has to move slowly for hours. 

Officials of the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) and Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) said they are not getting proper cooperation from the government in getting approved their manpower for drainage management circle and development project to excavate the canals.

However, experts said the city corporations need to revive canals and drainage systems as soon as possible by removing all obstruction in its pathways but they are moving ahead with poorly made plans.

On 31 December 2020, the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives (LGRD) handed over the responsibilities of 29 major canals, a regulating pond, four storm-water pumping stations, 51 sluice gates and 385 km of rainwater drainage line from Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Dhaka WASA) to the two Dhaka city corporations for better management.

However, the DSCC and the DNCC are yet to perform up to the mark regarding solving the waterlogging problem in Dhaka.

Officials involved in the proposed drainage management circle said the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives approved the recruitment of 114 manpower for DSCC and 175 for DNCC a few months back but they cannot recruit any worker as the ministries of public administration and finance are yet to approve it.

In January 2022, DNCC took a Tk27 crore scheme to demarcate 29 canals and a retention pond, with December of that year as the deadline for the project.

DNCC’s superintending engineer of the proposed drainage management circle Faruque Hassan Md Al Masud said the contractor was supposed to install 1,910 demarcation pillars but they have installed only around 1,000 so far.

He said, “All of the pillars could not be installed as there was a debate over which survey to follow. DNCC installed pillars in some places following the cadastral survey, in some places following the revised survey and in other areas according to the Dhaka Metropolitan Survey, which created controversy. Later, a committee was formed to issue guidelines regarding the path forward but it is yet to be done.”

He also said DNCC forwarded a proposal for a Tk1,000 crore project to revive the Sangbadik Colony Canal, Kurmitola Canal, and Baisteki Canal, but has not received any response from the government yet.

In the plan, there was a proposal for acquisition of 11 acres of land, excavation of the canals, beautification work and construction of cycle lanes.

Canal recovery project progresses, but plan changes in DSCC

On 11 October 2022, the government approved a Tk898 crore project to revive Shyampur, Kalunagar, Manda, and Zirani canals but several hundred buildings in these areas are yet to be dismantled.  

Talking to the Daily Sun on 8 October this year, Superintendent Engineer of DSCC Khairul Baker said, “We are facing a problem regarding demolition of illegal structures on canals. We had identified the structures, but now we have decided not to dismantle those but redesign our development plan.”

He, however, claimed the waterlogging situation has improved in Dhaka South area now compared to the earlier times.

He said, “Earlier, rain water remained on the roads for days, but now it recedes within 2-3 hours even when it rains heavily. If water stays on roads for a long time, it is because of blockage of drainage lines with silted waste.”

Talking to the Daily Sun, Adil Mohammed Khan, professor of department of Urban and Regional Planning at Jahangirnagar University, said the city corporations were failing due to their ill-planned project implementation. Their performance in supervising the city canals in the last three years was frustrating.

He said, “Not only are the city corporations, but many government bodies including the Water Development Board and Dhaka WASA also responsible for the slow shrinking of canals. Now all agencies should work together to recover the water bodies. The government should approve the required manpower for the drainage management circle as soon as possible.”

“The positioning of Dhaka is excellent for reducing waterlogging as the city is encircled by numerous rivers and canals which are called a natural drainage system. But due to unplanned urbanisation and turning the canals into roads and box culverts, that opportunity was killed. We see a canal was leased out for constructing a music school, while cattle farms were also   set up there,” he added.