Removing the waterlogging problem was a pledge that M Manjur Alam had made when he was elected mayor of the Chittagong city. However, four years after the 2010 election, the city dwellers have yet to witness implementation of that pledge.
According to the Chittagong City Corporation sources, projects worth Tk147.82 crore were undertaken with the aim to eradicate waterlogging in the city. However, the problem could not be solved due to widespread corruption during the projects’ implementation.
Advocate Anwarul Islam Chowdhury, convener of Shocheton Nagorik Forum, said the mayor had put forward a 56-point pledge ahead of the city corporation election.
Of the pledges, 17 were short-term, 10 mid-term and 29 long-term, he added.
“Two of the mayor’s top pledges were to eradicate waterlogging and to have a clean city. But the pledges remain unfulfilled,” he said, adding that most of the other pledges were also unfulfilled.
Sharif Chawhan, convener of Peoples’ Voice, said no proper studies were conducted before these projects were undertaken, which is why their implementation could do little to eliminate waterlogging.
“Also, the projects could not be accomplished properly due to corruption,” he said, claiming that a vested quarter had made quick money in the guise of implementing the projects.
Mayor Manjur Alam, however, refuted the allegation that he had failed to eradicate waterlogging, saying the problem had been reduced significantly over the past four years due to the implementation of a number of projects.
“Now, water pools in some areas after heavy rainfall, but it recedes within several hours after the rain stops,” he said.
The permanent eradication of waterlogging depended on the implementation of the Drainage Master Plan, he added.
He said they had undertaken a project worth Tk297 crore to dredge a big canal, and the project had been awaiting the nod of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council.
He also said a lack of an adequate number of sluice gates at the entrance of different canals was a major reason behind the waterlogging.
He said he had been urging the Water Development Board to set up the sluice gates and expand the existing ones.
According to the city corporation sources, the Drainage Master Plan – estimated to cost Tk88 crore – included the dredging of three giant canals with 30 branches, re-dredging of the existing canals and their branches, setting up of embankments on both the sides of Karnaphuli River from Patenga to Dry Dock, setting up of tidal regulators at different canals, and the construction of navigation gates at Chaktain and Rajakhali canals.
Around Tk1,000 crore was spent during the past three tenures of former mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury to eradicate water-logging, but there has been little improvement, said the sources.
Many areas of the city, including Agrabad, Halishahar, Bakalia, Sholoshahar, Muradpur, Bahaddarhat, Panchlaish, Chawk Bazar and Chandgaon go under knee to waist-deep water, even during moderate rain, and it worsens during torrential rainfall.
The low-lying areas of the city have been submerged in water for the past four days due to the heavy rainfall, causing the city dwellers immense suffering.
Jerina Hossain, a city planner, said people were paying the price as the projects to eradicate waterlogging were not being implemented in a coordinated way.
She said each government organisation was spending its budget in its own way.
She stressed on the necessity of immediate coordination among the concerned organisations, saying the city dwellers would have to suffer more if the ongoing situation continued.