Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) Mayor Barrister Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh on Saturday said that the final demarcation and de-encroachment process of Jirani, Manda, Shyampur and Kalungar canals of the capital will begin in August.
He gave this information in the speech of the chief guest in the dialogue entitled “Role of restoration of canals in the creation of aesthetic environment and alleviation of waterlogging in Dhaka” organized at the conference room of Bangladesh Institute of Planners in the capital on Saturday.
Dhaka Utility Reporters Association (DURA) organized the program.
Mayor Taposh said: “The four canals are Jirani, Manda, Shyampur, and Kalungar. We get the canals from Dhaka Wasa which are very important. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has approved a project for these four canals. After getting the canals, we started initial work to evict illegal encroachment from January 1, 2021.”
Reclaiming Dhaka's canals: City corps start demarcating boundaries“A section of Shyampur Canal is supposed to be 100 feet wide. But there we found a drain of 8 feet. Such images are almost everywhere.”
Under the project, the final demarcation and de-encroachment activities of these four canals are going to be started as per CS, RS, SA design, DAP (detailed area plan) Zone Planning and Water Act, said the DSCC mayor.
He said: “From next month we will start this program on a larger scale. There will be many obstacles and hindrances in this work. There are many pressures and influences. I seek vocal role and cooperation of the media, civil society, city planners and the people of Dhaka to deal with that pressure, influence, and obstacles.”
Highlighting the various initiatives taken and implemented in the last four years to resolve waterlogging, the DSCC Mayor said: “We are identifying those places as waterlogged where rainwater accumulates for more than half an hour after torrential rains. Since 2020, we have identified 161 such places. Already, we have managed to alleviate waterlogging by developing infrastructure in 136 places.”
“Work is ongoing in the remaining areas. Besides this time due to the effect of Cyclone Remal and last year some new areas have been waterlogged. We have identified 50 more such places. Among them, we got new waterlogging last year in front of New Market area, Naem road, Dhanmondi hawkers market. When we investigated to find out the reason, we found that the drains were filled with garbage.”
The mayor highlighted various irregularities in water drainage management in the past years.
Taposh said: "The main places of old Dhaka are Bangshal, Kotwali, Sutrapur, and Gendaria. No work had been done in Bangshal for 40 years. In many places, we have seen, that instead of providing water drainage through nearby places, it has been diverted by about one and a half kilometers and arranged through distant places. The water of this Bangshal area was drained to Buriganga through Phulbaria through the North-South road through Dholaikhal. We are taking it directly to Buriganga through Babubazar Road through six a six-foot-diameter drain. In the next 30 years, there will be no waterlogging there.”
He said: "Similarly, in front of the Dhaka Education Board, we reported waterlogging last year. I also saw there that arrangements have been made to drain water from Bakshibazar through Azimpur. We are taking measures to drain it directly from Bakshibazar to Buriganga via Chawkbazar.”
