From waterlogged to flood-free city

Chattogram, the second largest city, hosts the main port of Bangladesh. Being the commercial hub, the city is considered to be the economical heart of Bangladesh. Thus, naturally, the city has developed quicker than other cities. However, the city faces massive flood water during monsoon every year. There are a total of 57 canals scattered over the city to carry the extra rain water to nearby Bay of Bengal. Unfortunately, absence of strict implementation of master plan has led to enormous unplanned development which gradually has made the canals narrower and eventually clogged. Therefore, every year during monsoon, Chattogram becomes a victim of its own development due to clogged canals.

This situation is now changing.

With a timely and bold decision, the govt has given the responsibility to Bangladesh Army to restore the situation and make the city flood free. Determined to diminish the public suffering, the 34 Engineer Construction Brigade of Bangladesh Army has taken the challenge to restore the canals.

Restoring the natural flow of the city

Out of 57, Bangladesh Army has started with a total of 36 major canals which are major culprits for flooding every year during monsoon. The brutal unplanned development has made the canals narrower and eventually clogged over the period. The crisis is further fueled by the ignorance of the masses who carelessly throw unwanted items into the canals and build unauthorized structures over the canal. The bold and coordinated effort of Bangladesh Army has eventually revived the canals. The commitment of Army with detailed planning, firm execution and hard work of Corps of Engineers has become the key to restoring the clogged canals. The efficiency and transparency of Army with bold and firm execution have overturned the mismanagement of waste management. Modern dredging machinery, a dedicated work programme and skilled engineers started a systematic clean-up of accumulated waste and they took steadfast steps to remove unauthorized structures over canals. The result is clearly visible now. The drainage system is now working with full flow and rain water outflow is faster enough to carry the flood water out swiftly like healthy arteries.

Relief of people from the misery of monsoon

The outcome of restoring the canals are multifarious. It has boosted the overall quality of life of the people in the city, especially during monsoon. In recent past, the localities of Chaktai, Rahattarpul, Sholoshohor, Agrabad used to suffer from waterlogging due to usual rain shower during monsoon. The logged water level sometimes used to rise up to waist level and remained logged hours together after rain due to slow and clogged flow of water. Almost every day to day activities like office work, business, school schedule, markets, transportation used to be hampered severely. Those days of misery of monsoon are gone now. Systematic cleaning and removal of debris to keep the drainage depth adequate by Bangladesh Army has restored the life of the years-long sick canals. The usual pictures of submerged streets under water of Chattogram during monsoon are history now. With the restoration of normal operation of streets, transportation, offices, schools are now operating smoothly even in the wettest months.

Economic and social benefits flowing in

The effects of canal restoration has a great contribution to the economic as well as social arena of the day to day life of the city. The usual situation of having a paralyzed road network during monsoon is disappeared dramatically. Therefore the economic flow in terms of transportation, business, trade and commerce operation are now going on in full swing without any difficulties. It is far more true for the daily wage earners who run small business or transport system for common city people. Their hard work and sweat can now earn stable income which was almost impossible due to flooded and submerged roads in monsoon. Thereby, the overall productivity in the city has been far up than the previous years. In turn, with the smooth operation of the economic heart of Bangladesh, it has a tremendous impact on the wheel of economy of Bangladesh to roll forward.

The social benefits due to the planned waste management through canal restoration work of Bangladesh Army are also high. With the flood-free road network during monsoon, the school, office and other day to day activities are now going on smoothly. The health indication bar which used to go down terribly due to water-borne diseases and uncontrolled breeding of mosquitoes, is now stable and within safe limit. Thereby, the overall sanitation, hygiene and cleanliness has improved significantly which in turn improve the overall public health situation in the port city.

The trusted Bangladesh Army for flood-free Chattogram

The canal restoration plan of Chattogram Development Authority was done several years ago. However, the implementation was hindered and delayed due to illegal occupation and construction over the canals. This illegal approach reduced the width of the canal which was very vital for the smooth flow of canal water. Moreover, ignorance and carelessness of general people who throw unwanted waste into the canals reduced the usual depth and eventually clogged the canals. This precarious situation demanded the Bangladesh Army, one of the most trusted organisations in Bangladesh, to take the challenge to reclaim the lost canals. The precise plan, firm approach to remove the illegal occupation and the utmost devotion of 34 Engineer Construction Brigade of Bangladesh Army could successfully overcome all the difficulties. The leadership, hard work and dedication of Bangladesh Army always made any difficult task done by removing all hurdles and bottlenecks. The Engineers of Bangladesh Army formulated a precise plan and followed the plan with their dedication to bring out solution to transform the flood-prone city into a flood-free economic hub of Bangladesh.

Collaboration, coordination: A true model of partnership with civil authority

The major stakeholder of the canal restoration project is the Chattogram Development Authority (CDA) along with the Chittagong City Corporation. Bangladesh Army established a true partnership with effective collaboration and coordination with CDA which paved the path to the success of the project. While Bangladesh Army was devoted to the removal of illegal occupation and construction, the CDA contributed a lot to handle and resolve the legal issues. Thus the partnership set an illuminating example of civil-military alliance for a common goal to achieve success for making Chattogram a flood-free city. It has been again proved that it is possible to solve any apparently unsolvable problem if military and civil authority work hand in hand.

Environmental restoration and climate resilience

The canal restoration project has not only made Chattogram a flood-free city. It has a deep impact on the restoration of environment and climate resilience. A huge amount of waste and debris in the canals used to pollute the water and the polluted water used to destroy the associated air quality. Restoring smooth water flow by reclaiming the canals and by clearing the waste and debris of the canals has improved the water and associated air quality significantly. It, in turn, revived ecosystem and biodiversity to a great extent. Thus, this restoration of flow of water has reinforced the defence mechanism of Chattogram against the growing threat of climate change. Moreover, Chattogram is a low-lying coastal city, for which, it is dangerously vulnerable to rising sea level and extreme weather conditions. The smooth flow of water provides a well coordinated drainage network which improves the natural resilience of the city against harsh impact of heavy rainfall. Again, cleaner water flow through the canal network enormously has improved the associated air quality and also, reduced the heat effect in the densely-populated Chattogram city. Thereby, the dedicated hard work of Bangladesh Army in coordination with CDA has significantly improved the climate adaptation capability of the city.

Role and civic duty of the citizens of Chattogram

Reclaiming the canals and restoring the cleaner water flow through a network of canals for waste management by Bangladesh Army will not continue forever. This is a project entrusted with Bangladesh Army and eventually, Bangladesh Army will complete and hand over the project to CDA. Here the role and civic duty of the citizens of Chattogram city will come into play. CDA alone can never be able to maintain the huge network of waste management through canals unless the awareness of the citizens come to a certain standard. This standard will encourage the citizens not to throw unwanted debris into the canals. Therefore, a dedicated and wholehearted awareness and community engagement programme must be taken by CDA. The awareness programme may include encouragement and motivation programme through seminar, advertisement in electronic and print media to generate anti-littering habits of the people. Local elite and celebrities may take part in cleaning programmes regularly to encourage the common people of Chattogram to become more responsible not to throw unwanted debris in the canals. Teachers of the schools and colleges may take part along with the students in the cleaning programme to infuse civic responsibility into their heart and soul. In addition, however, a punishment and penalty system may be incorporated by the local authority for those who are reluctant to keep the canals clean. Thus, the spirit of shared responsibility by the CDA, local authority and the people of Chattogram will emerge as a positive cultural shift for the sustainable development.

A city reborn through Bangladesh Army and good people of the city

With the bold and dedicated steps taken to restore the canals by Bangladesh Army in coordination with Chattogram Development Authority and Chittagong City Corporation, the city of economic heartbeat of Bangladesh is reborn. The depressing sight of water logged streets during monsoon has now become a joyful flood-free city. The canal restoration project will remain a shining example which shows that the firm leadership and teamwork of Bangladesh Army can transform a waterlogged city into a flood-free city in coordination with the civil administration.

The writer is Colonel Staff of Welfare & Rehabilitation Directorate, Army Headquarters. emran480@gmail.com