Water stagnation in Dhaka unlikely to go this year

The residents of Dhaka city are unlikely to be freed from water stagnation in the coming monsoon as the two city corporations have made no significant progress in recovering water bodies from grabbers.

Urban planners said that the city residents would face water stagnation this year like in the past as the authorities concerned failed to ensure a proper drainage system.

‘The city authorities had failed to restore the entire drainage network connecting the canals and rivers,’ said urban planner and architect Iqbal Habib.

Jahangirnagar University urban planning professor and Institute of Planning and Development executive director Adil Mohammad Khan also feared that water stagnation would persist this year as the capacity of drainage network and water bodies was not raised significantly.

He said that the city residents would suffer from water stagnation during heavy rain.

‘Illegal grabbers have continued grabbing many canals, which is creating obstacles in reducing water stagnation,’ he said, adding that filing of drains with wastes was also causing water stagnation. 

The Dhaka North City Corporation and the Dhaka South City Corporation authorities said that they had taken several short term measures to check the possible water stagnation in the capital. 

They added that they would also make a long-term plan to check water stagnation in the city.

DSCC officials said that they had identified 125 spots in their jurisdiction and started working on a short term plan to reduce water stagnation spending Tk 175 crore from their own fund.

They said that they also found 10 new spots of water stagnation under the DSCC jurisdiction and they would also start activities in those places.

DNCC officials said that they were working on 42 spots to remove water stagnation.

The officials shared a document which showed that it had taken a short term plan to reduce water stagnation through constructing drains, installing pipelines and developing roads at Moghbazar, Madhubagh, Karwan Bazar, Banani rail gate to Kakoli crossing on airport road and Uttara Sector-1.

DNCC engaged Bangladesh Army for the demarcation of 29 canals using modern GPS and drone surveys following a map, said the officials.

It was also installing pillars to protect the canals from illegal grabbers under a project inaugurated on February 16 in 2022, the document showed.

DNCC would take a revised Development Project Plan for three canals called Sangbadik Colony, Baishteski and Kurmitola canals, according to the Planning Commission’s project evaluation committee.

The two city corporations took the charge of 26 canals on December 31, 2020, from the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority to increase the aesthetic beauty of the canals by evicting illegal grabbers and cleaning wastes and reducing the water-logging.

Dhaka Municipal Corporation maintained the canals in the past. In 1988, they were handed to Dhaka WASA for maintenance.

Dhaka district administration record showed that the number of canals in the capital is 54.

The National River Conservation Commission study, however, showed that the number was 77.

DSCC chief engineer Saleh Ahmed told New Age that they did not have the capacity to remove water stagnation 100 per cent but hoped that the problem would not linger for hours due to the measures taken by the corporation on many points.

‘We need a long term solution to the problem. We have proposed a project for cleaning garbage and huge excavation of the four major canals at Jirani, Manda, Kaluganar and Shyampur. The proposal was sent to the planning ministry through the local government ministry,’ he said.

He said that they were holding meetings every week and officials of the zones also had been asked to submit weekly reports on whether water was remaining stagnant for more than half an hour.

He also blamed the people for filing the drains with waste which was creating difficulties for them to remove water on time.

DNCC chief executive officer Selim Reza saw no possibility of water stagnation in areas under their jurisdiction this year.

‘We will be able to remove water within two hours. We have already taken adequate measures to contain water stagnation,’ he said.

‘We have also set up Quick Response Team in 10 zones to address water stagnation and they will pump out water if necessary,’ he said.

News Courtesy:

https://www.newagebd.net/article/171540/water-stagnation-in-dhaka-unlikely-to-go-this-year