We must marvel at and admire the residents of the Sreepur upazila in Gazipur. Faced with two decades of waterlogging, blocked drains, and official indifference, they came together, pooled their own money, and built a functional drainage system themselves.
This is a testament to community spirit, resilience, and the determination of ordinary citizens who have stood up and refused to live indefinitely with a problem that should have been solved long ago.
With that said, let us be clear: This is not how a functioning system is supposed to work.
Citizens should not have to become engineers, fundraisers, and municipal workers just to secure basic urban services. The fact that residents had to take matters into their own hands is not a sign of empowerment but rather a sign of institutional failure.
That this has been going on for decades where Sreepur has lived with stagnant water, damaged roads, mosquito infestations, and the daily indignity of a problem that no authority seemed willing to fix is simply unacceptable.
Their initiative deserves praise, but it also demands introspection. When citizens are forced to build their own infrastructure, it shows just how lacking the governance, accountability, and service delivery truly is.
Bangladesh’s urban future cannot depend on communities solving structural problems on their own. Drainage, waste management, roads, water supply -- these are some of the core responsibilities of municipal authorities. When these systems break down, the consequences ripple across public health, mobility, and quality of life.
The Sreepur residents have shown what collective action can achieve. It is time now for the authorities to show that they have learned from this and not just offer praise from the sidelines for citizens doing their jobs. They must ensure that no community is left to fend for itself for decades. They must respond faster, plan better, and maintain essential infrastructure.
To reiterate, this is unquestionably a positive story. But it should never have been necessary.
