Given the increasingly intense heatwaves which Bangladesh has been experiencing in the past few years, rainfall is considered something of a respite for the people, especially in our capital Dhaka where the urban heat island effect can be felt at its worst. However, the unfortunate reality is that rainfall too often presents citizens with an entirely different challenge: Waterlogging.
Chronic waterlogging has been one of the biggest sources of misery for Dhaka residents, as even a moderate amount of rain can far too often flood streets and entire areas bringing the city to a standstill. With the Bangladesh Meteorological Department predicting light to moderate rain in all eight divisions, including Dhaka, it is high time that our city corporations started preparing to tackle the issue of waterlogging.
As we have said before, waterlogging cannot be tackled with stopgap solutions but must be tackled as the multi-faceted issue that it is. Dhaka’s continuous unplanned urbanization, the city’s complete lack of a comprehensive waste disposal infrastructure, the encroachment of our canals and water bodies, among a host of other issues all converge to give way to the city’s severe waterlogging.
Until and unless relevant agencies such as WASA and our two city corporations display the necessary cooperation and come together to tackle waterlogging, the problem is going to remain unaddressed.
Some time ago, the government announced an ambitious project in the form of Kallyanpur Retention Pond which would act as a functional drainage system. With next to know reports about the project’s current state, missing multiple deadlines along the way, it behooves the government to be transparent about its progress as the project would most certainly go some ways to help fix our waterlogging issue.