While filling canals, cutting hills, and defying master plan are widely blamed for Chattogram city’s chronic waterlogging, a recent research has found that immaturity and negligence in good governance, social discrimination and public apathy have been compounding the problem.

A team of ten professors from various departments of Chittagong University (CU) conducted the research following an expression of special intention and directive from Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus.

The researchers believe that without ensuring the good governance and policy implementation, and addressing behavioural social problems, the ongoing infrastructure projects will fail to eradicate waterlogging.

The research titled “Actions for Addressing Waterlogging in Chattogram City” outlined 32 recommendations for short-, long- and mid-term implementation to resolve the decades-old man-made crisis.

They stressed that lack of inter-agency coordination, insufficient enforcement of building acts and codes, unplanned urbanisation, unavailability of data, social discrimination and negligence toward the slum dwellers, river encroachment and ineffective waste management are aggravating the problem.

Notably, waterlogging has become an annual ordeal for dwellers living in the low-lying areas of Chattogram, causing fatalities and severe damage to homes and businesses.

Despite ongoing government projects involving around Tk14,263 crore over the past 11 years, the problem persists.

It is worth noting that the CU Vice Chancellor (VC) Prof Dr Muhammad Yeahia Akhter met the CA on 11 January this year. Following the special intention and directive of the CA, the team headed by CU Pro Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Kamal Uddin was formed to carry out the research.

The committee handed over the research findings to the VC on 9 April while a delegation, led by the CU VC, handed over it to the CA on 16 April.

The research team convener Prof Kamal told the Daily Sun that the comprehensive research solely focused on Chattogram’s waterlogging.

“If even the short-term recommendations are implemented before the upcoming monsoon, a significant improvement can be expected this year,” he noted.

The report will be forwarded to relevant agencies implementing the ongoing waterlogging mitigation efforts, he stated.

The 10-member research team comprises researchers from different departments and institutes including forestry, marine science, geology and environmental science, anthropology and economics of the CU.

The researchers said some 85% of the city is covered with concrete structures and bitumen while it requires some 25-30% green space in a city. Some 70% water-bodies have been filled in the last 50 years, decreasing the natural water-containing capacity.

The report notes that of the 72 canals in the city, only 56 were accounted for in the drainage master plan of the Chattogram Wasa and those too are heavily clogged with polythene and plastic waste.

Governance and public awareness related impacts

The researchers found that there is immaturity and negligence of the authorities concerned in establishing good governance and policy implementation to end waterlogging. Moreover, there is an extreme lack of public awareness with regard to causes of the problem.

Many agencies take up projects at will without any scrutiny and implement them as they wish. Even though the government talks about waterlogging reduction on a priority basis, projects are taken up in a hurry without checking the feasibility. No one consults with the concerned agencies.

In this case, political influence acts as a catalyst and the influence of political parties is seen in all the activities of the city.

They also found insufficient enforcement of building act and rules, reluctance to develop drains personally, unavailability of data regarding rainfall, flood and drainage capacity, lack of public involvement, social discrimination and undermining the slum areas, and the failure of administration to tackle impact of climate change.

They mentioned that there are many social discriminations and slum dwellers are victims of various inequalities. Responsible agencies rarely carry out conservancy activities in slum areas. There is more waterlogging in slum areas, because the drains there have become ineffective for dumping garbage in them.

They put forward ten recommendations to address the crisis. Those include non-involvement of politicians with projects, addressing discrimination and ensuring equal service for slums. 

Agencies working to solve problem worsen crisis

The lack of coordination among the six agencies working independently according to their master plan is the primary cause of the repeated waterlogging, said experts.

Currently, four organisations – Chattogram Development Authority (CDA), Chattogram City Corporation (CCC), Chattogram Wasa (CWASA) and Bangladesh Water Development Board are implementing – five different projects related to the waterlogging mitigation, involving around Tk14,263 crore, they mentioned.

But, the problems persist and the situation is worsening gradually. They pointed out that the ongoing projects were taken rapidly and were not following the drainage master plan.

In the drainage master plan-1995 of the CDA, excavating four new canals was recommended. Work on one of the canals started in 2014, but has not been completed yet.

The mega projects taken earlier mainly focused on primary drains – which are canals – of the city, but secondary and tertiary drains are also similarly old and vulnerable. The rainwater fails to reach the primary canals through the narrow and vulnerable secondary and tertiary drains and causes waterlogging.

The researchers provided a detailed analysis across four major dimensions including environmental, climate change and geological impact, technical and engineering impacts, waste management related impacts, and governance and public awareness related impacts and actions to be taken to address them.

For collecting the information and data, they discussed with experts and forwarded the short, mid and long-term proposals on the basis of focus group discussions.

Environment, climate change and geological impacts

The Chattogram city is currently facing severe waterlogging problems due to climate change, unplanned urbanisation, and geological weakness. The problem of waterlogging is becoming more complex day by day due to excessive rainfall, encroachment of natural canals and rivers, changed use of land, and rising sea levels, said experts.

The geographical features of Chattogram, especially the low-lying topography, have exacerbated the problem.

The seven recommendations they proposed to counteract the environment, climate change and geological issues include improvement of rain and water drainage management, conservation and reclaiming of the natural canal and river, ensuring planned urbanisation and use of land, plan for drainage of water at low-lying areas, tackling impacts of geological weakness and rise of sea level, and conservation of biodiversity and public health.

Technical and engineering impacts

Despite its unique characteristics and geographical importance compared to other cities in Bangladesh, the environment of the port city Chattogram is facing various threats.

The city has an excellent natural system for water drainage, but the problem of waterlogging is becoming more and more critical day by day. Waterlogging lasts from 30 minutes to about five hours with depth varying from 0.5 to 1.60 metres.

Indiscriminate leveling of hills and trees, poor garbage management and drainage system, unplanned sluice gates and lack of navigability in the Karnaphuli River are held as main reasons for the waterlogging.

The nine-point recommendation of the researchers in this regard include ensuring uninterrupted water flow, introducing database and drainage master-plan, identifying the waterlogging hotspots, stopping hill cutting, installing soak-pits, and planning properly and carrying out massive publicity campaigns.

Waste management related impacts

To address the problem, it is essential to assess the performance of the city's infrastructure, analyse the extent of flooding, and ensure cost-effective solutions. Necessary investments in water drainage, waste management, and climate-smart infrastructure can play a significant role in increasing the capacity of the city.

The report outlines six recommendations including identifying garbage hotspots, cleaning the drains and canals, separating waste at the sources, introducing environment-friendly waste management systems and making people aware of the waste management for remedying these issues.