“Rain, rain go away
Rain, rain go away
Come again another day.
Rain, rain go away
Little Johnny wants to play.”
This September, Dhaka city, hauled to a full stop, know exactly what this rhyme means.
As recently as September 2, just 61 millimeters of an hour-long rainfall around 12 noon on September 2 brought Dhaka to its knees. Traffic froze, the ensuing flash-flood almost took the day away from Dhakhites, making the met office a sudden hit as the most visited website of the day; everyone wanted to know if it would rain similarly the day after.
This is a continuation of a trend of the recent years where Dhaka, apart from the usual predicaments like water, noise and air pollution, traffic congestion, has faced extensive waterlogging during monsoon. Rainfall induced flashflood inundated the city for several days, bring to the fore the city’s inefficient water management, more specifically, lack of proper drainage system.
Dhaka is located on the extensive floodplains of Ganges and Brahmaputra, and the amount of precipitation in this region has always been more than generous. Such rain should never have been a problem, but the unplanned, rapid population growth and subsequent mushrooming of accommodation development caused encroachment of the drainage.
M Inamul Haq, Chairman, Institute of Water & Environment also the former engineer of Bangladesh Water Development board and Water resource ministry expressed his disquiet over the Dhaka’s drainage system. He hinted that no detail plan was well designed at all after and before the independence of Bangladesh. BWDB and the ministry of water resources are responsible in this issue according to the BWDB Act, 2000 that requires the National Water Policy guide the BWDB’s functions.
The expert opined that a blame game had been prevailing on since the decades but no one triggering the bull’s eye, the government law enactment. The cannels are the key route to exit such rain water in city streets. When questions arose on BWDB responsibility, the authority immediately launched an eviction drive and some establishment seized but what about the cannels; getting narrow day by day.
Now the live cannels which were 100 feet is narrowed down to 20 feet with wastage, concerts and other non disposable materials.
So, there is no option to play a blame game on such crucial issue as BWDB and Ministry of water management have the responsibility than DWASA and city corporations.
With the onset of rampant and indiscriminate urbanization, most areas are now paved, concreted or asphalted.
As a result very little rainwater even at one inch per hour, the drainage system is having to cope with almost twice its intended capacity. Natural drainage or the slope of a city was never kept in mind between the authorities.
A 67-year-old Dhakait, Aminul Islam khan former government employee said, in early 80’s, the mega city had at least 47 live drainage canals, now only 25 survived but under threat of land grabbers nexus. Just turn your memory to 25 years back, all of the cannels were linked with Hatijheel and Dhanmondi Lake, and the river was in contact with these two lakes. The natural flow of water was the system to eject water from streets thoroughly. Now, the streets have become more seasoned and the rivers surrounded the city is under occupied state.
Hence, now in the 21st century, the sudden flow is trapped within parts of the city. The age old low capacity drainage system faces another attack aside the usual enemies: gravity, unnatural siltation, scarcity of inlets and outlets, lack of proper maintenance, unregulated disposal of solid waste into the drains and drainage paths.
In addition, seasonal tidal effect and the topography of the city also cause water logging. The storm water then pollutes as it mixes with solid waste, clinical waste, silt, contaminants, domestic waste sand other human activities, increasing water borne diseases.
The stagnant water contaminates to become a mucous filled, foul smelling, hot breeding site for vectors, jeopardising public health. Already, reports have emerged that Dengue related admittance is rising in the city’s hospitals.
Management of drainage system of Dhaka City is presently a challenge. Every year, Dhaka WASA and the city corporation (two corporations now) pass the buck of responsibility over the recurrent failure to keep the 360 square km capital free from water logging.
In actuality, about a dozen government agencies are deployed for Dhaka’s drainage, yet the system collapses with frustrating regularity. The three authorities repeated the same old anecdote, a blame game that none of them controlled the facilities for the drainage of the entire mega city. Drainage system under a single authority is obvious and which is under veiled for decades here.
Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority have the responsibility to look after their drainage system of 39 per cent area of the capital. According to DWASA official website, they have four pump stations, and drainage canals in 140 square km of the 360-square km capital into 65km open canals. The drainage pumping stations are located at Dholaikhal, Kallayanpur, Rampura and Janapath. While, the two city corporations are responsible for 2,500 km of surface drains and around 4,000 km of underground drains.
DWASA recovers its 26 canals there will be no improvement in the situation as per the BWDB guideline. WASA’s clogged outlets obstruct the passage of water into its canals and WASA rarely if ever cleans its outlets. As said earlier the situation can improve only if the three entities worked together. On July 11, 2003, the government decided to bring the drainage system either under the control of either then Dhaka City Corporation or DWASA. There has been no progress on the issue ever since. The responsible government body is still on the wall and watching how it goes.
Historian Professor Ahmed Kamal of the Dhaka University emphasised on rescuing cannels linked with the rivers surrounded the city and unplanned drazzing system in the rivers.
‘Dhaka could be an example for the world for its rich water transportation but the unplanned roads, railways did harm a lot, controlled rivers from their own nature. No one have the rights to control rivers and water channels as the plain land rivers move through their own way. Only immediate initiatives can be helpful to get rid of such sufferings. If it is much costly then why not we are using our manpower by enhancing awareness through.’
The builder-politician nexus has knowingly and intentionally suffocated the city's open spaces for commercial purposes. This loss of and subsequent commercialisation and concretisation of open spaces has meant that water, which previously could seep into the soil has practically nowhere to go, leading to flooding. The blame then fell on the storm water drains which in most cases, were designed very long ago and not capable of handling the excess.
City dwellers have no immediate break from rainwater stagnation as germane authorities are still engaged in shifting responsibilities to one another instead of finding ways of resolving the nagging problem.
In the long run, the nursery rhyme should continue without the full stop; little Johnny needs to play. Jonny’s desire should not fall prey to mere blame-games.
