Mitigating waterlogging problem of port city

If and when completed, the project which was launched on Tuesday in Chattogram, will mitigate the severe waterlogging problem of the port city. This will provide the city dwellers a great relief. Execution of the project in time and within the estimated cost has to be ensured now in order to rid this port city of its long-lasting problem. That is a big challenge, given the country's experience about inordinate delays in completion of priority development projects. All concerned would expect that this challenge will be effectively addressed, in view of the pressing need for mitigating the long-lingering sufferings of the residents of this city. Quite a good number of other cities and towns of the country, including Dhaka, do also experience the problem of waterlogging during monsoon. But Chattogram is the worst-hit, largely because of man-made factors. Many parts of the port city go under waist- to chest-deep water, following a moderate-to-heavy downpour; its normal life and business activities come then to a halt.

The affected people have been knocking almost every door seeking a solution to this nagging problem. Partly for lack of initiatives and partly for non-availability of resources, the problem remained unaddressed for years except for some piecemeal efforts to reduce the people's sufferings. And now a project has been taken up to redress such sufferings. However, the next rainy season, in all likelihood, will be as traumatic as that of the past ones, for, at least one-third population of the city of Chattogram because of the delays that they have already experienced so far in starting the work for the execution of Tk. 56.165 billion project. Re-excavation and cleaning of as many as 36 choked canals -- the sources of all troubles -- are unlikely to be started during the coming monsoon months. The Bangladesh Army Engineering Crops under a contract signed early this week would start the excavation work during the next dry months.

Faulty city planning and failure on the part of the relevant agencies, including the Chattogram Development Authority (CDA) and the Chattogram City Corporation (CCC), to keep the city drainage system clean and dirt-free, are the prime reasons for the multi-pronged woes of the residents there. Besides negligence on the part of such authorities, dirt, waste and other objects, thrown indiscriminately by the people living along those canals, have made it all too difficult for waste and rainwater to pass through them.

A number of canals that have been included in the project in Chattogram for re-excavation, are virtually lost to grabbers, much like the case with the capital city of Dhaka. Restoring them to their old state, according to many, would be a daunting task. Hopefully, the Engineering Corps of Bangladesh Army would be able to recover and re-excavate those along with others and make them suitable, to the maximum possible extent, for flushing out rainwater during the monsoon.

Waterlogging does not only cause disruption to normal life but also hurt business activities, particularly in a commercial city like Chattogram. A proper solution to the problem has long been overdue. Yet the situation can still be saved, to a notable extent, through the right kind of actions by the relevant agencies as well as a greater awareness among a wider section of city residents about keeping all the drainage routes clean in their own interest.