Water logging seems to be a curse for Chattogram city. Residents of this beautiful city have been living with this curse for years. It is known to them that the city roads will go under water even after a little rain. But when it rains, the drains become more dangerous than water logging. The small and large drains sometimes cannot be identified by passers-by. They fall into these drains and many of them have to drown in drain water. Due to water logging, canals and drains along the roads have now become death traps. Some days ago, one-and-a-half-year old child Yasin Arafat went missing in the waterlogged Agrabad area of Chattogam city. His body was found a day later. Earlier on August 7, a college student named Nipa Palit died after falling into an open drain in Islamiahat Badamtala as the road went under water after heavy rains. Such deaths are happening regularly. However, the city corporation authorities are paying the least heed to such deaths and taking no initiatives to ensure safety of the residents from these open drains.
If we look closely, we will find that unplanned construction of buildings, littering, encroachment of canals and water bodies are some of the major reasons behind this perennial water-logging problem in the port city. The authorities should address this problem immediately and come forward with a permanent solution so that waterlogged roads do not remain a problem in this city.
Ashikujaman Syed,
Foreign Service Officer,
Anhui Haikang Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd,
Anqing, China,
syedashikujaman@yahoo.com