CHATTOGRAM, Apr 09: The Chattogram Development Authority (CDA) is going to start implementation of the city's Tk 56.165 billion waterlogging mitigation project tomorrow (Tuesday).
The CDA signed a Memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Bangladesh Army Engineering Corps Monday to implement the project at a formal ceremony at the Radisson Blu Chittagong Bay View in the city.
The much sought-after work for implementation of the project starts belatedly at the fag end of the dry season.
Re-excavation of the city's 36 canals, the primary task of the project, will remain suspended during the almost four-month lasting rainy season. The rainy season is only a few weeks away from now.
So the project implementing authority warned the city dwellers not to expect much results from the project work in the upcoming monsoon.
The people will have to suffer from water logging yet another season that is likely to haunt them from the beginning of May, according to officials at Patenga weather forecast office in the city.
The Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) has a population over six million. Almost one-third of them suffer from water logging caused due to stagnation of rain water carried by dozens of canals.
The canals have been filled up with domestic wastes indiscriminately thrown up by dwellers along the canal banks, filling of the canal beds by indiscriminate cutting of city hills formed mostly with sands and finally lack of regular dredging, re-excavation and renovation of canals and leaving the drains untouched by relevant authorities for years together.
Many projects including a new canal digging at Bahaddarhat Baroipara to Kalughat taken up by the CCC could not be undertaken due to fund constraints.
The previous governments or any other global development agency did not come up with the required financial support to mitigate the water logging problem of a city.
Superintending Engineer of CDA Kazi Hassan bin Shams and Deputy Director of 34 Engineering Construction Brigade of Bangladesh Army Lt Col Shahriar Ahmed signed the MoU on behalf of the two orgnisations.
Mayor of CCC AJM Nasir Uddin, CDA Chairman Abdus Salam, local leaders from the ruling Awami League and other political parties, academicians, professionals, trade body leaders, business persons and industrialists, among others, were present on the occasion.
Under the mega project titled Chattogram City Water Logging Mitigation as many as 57 canals will be re-excavated, expanded, renovated and developed.
Some of the canals have already lost their existence due to illegal grabbing and construction of infrastructures including multi-storey houses.
The government has sanctioned Tk 5.0 billion (Tk 500 crores) for the work in the rest of the current fiscal year that ends on June 30, 2018.
In his opening address CDA Chairman Abdus Salam, who is also Member-Secretary of the National Committee for Monitoring the Project, said the CDA has been implementing two mega projects for mitigating the city's water logging problem at the cost of Tk 80 billion.
In the meeting Chattogram City Mayor AJM Nasir Uddin said he would extend all-out support to implement the CDA's water logging mitigation project.
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