With the recent bout of heavy rainfall being observed by the nation, the age-old problem of water-logging in our cities can be expected to rear its ugly head once again and give way to a host of issues ranging from exacerbated traffic to a public health disaster.
We have heard promises of water-logging coming to an end far too many times, but the fact of the matter remains that our city corporations are consistently dropping the ball to provide even short-term solutions let alone something more long term. Part of the long-term vision apparently is to improve the sewerage system to ensure easy water flow in canals in and around Dhaka. We have also heard promises to fix the drainage system before, but in practice we only see it getting worse.
Water-logging in cities like our capital is a multi-faceted problem, and as such it needs a multi-faceted solution. From plastic pollution to a faulty sewage system, it all feeds into even the tiniest bit of rainfall causing city dwellers massive headaches. There is a reason why rainfall is almost always followed by long waits on the road or even the seasonal bout of dengue becoming far worse year after year -- rainfall, as we all know, has a direct correlation to an increase in the population of the Aedes mosquito.
Bangladesh is a nation of heavy rainfall, but it is also a nation of canals and rivers which provide a natural mechanism to deal with excess water. But a clear lack of planning and a holistic vision regarding sewage treatment and dealing with plastic pollution has led to the current state of affairs.
Promises are easy to make, it’s high time our city corporations actually delivered on them.