One of the most persistent issues faced by urban Bangladeshis, particularly citizens of the capital city, is waterlogging. Even the most moderate amount of rain is more than enough to bring our cities to a complete standstill, owing to rainwater flooding the streets due to the shoddy state of our drainage infrastructure.
It is then with some level of astonishment that we welcome the recent statement made by the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) that waterlogging in the capital’s main roads has reduced drastically this year in comparison to previous years despite consistent rainfall. This shows that targetted action is the only way out when it comes to some of the more perennial issues which affect quality of life in our cities.
The annual ordeal of flooding and waterlogging is a deeply entrenched crisis, a symptom of a much larger disease afflicting our urban centres: Unplanned urbanization.
There is also, of course, the complete failure of integrated governance for us to point at, and the ongoing crisis near the airport is a case in point. Indeed, the admission that development projects have damaged water retention areas, rendering only temporary solutions possible, is a stark reminder of how our drive to rebuild often sabotages essential existing infrastructure.
However, while administrative failure is the primary driver behind waterlogging going so long being unaddressed, the abject lack of civic sense on the part of the wider public plays a large role too -- the ceaseless dumping of polythene and other synthetic waste into drains is a form of civic self-sabotage that nullifies expensive engineering projects within months. To this end, no amount of cleaning or excavation can sustain itself without a simultaneous, massive campaign to change public behaviour and enforce waste management laws rigorously.
The reduced levels of waterlogging this year is nothing if not proof that with the right action, even Dhaka’s most inherent issues can be dealt with.
