The residents of different areas of Dhaka city are very familiar with the problem of water-logging during the rainy season. A moderate to heavy rainfall is enough to inundate main roads, lanes and by-lanes of both old and new parts of the capital. The main and busy thoroughfares go under ankle- to knee-deep water if it rains heavily for an hour. The agencies concerned are seen making efforts to solve the water-logging problem; but in most cases they fail mainly because of poor and faulty drainage system.
The problem is even bigger in the case of Chittagong, known as the commercial capital of the country. In last Friday's heavy downpour, the highest during the current monsoon season, most of the port city went under knee- to waist-deep water and life was paralysed. The worst sufferers included the residents of Bakalia Baddarhat, Muradpur, Solosahar, GEC Moor (crossing), WASA Crossing, Kapasgola, Panchlais, Badurtala, Halishahar, Agrabad, Probartak Moor, Chaktai and Chandgaon. The problem of water-logging has become worse as the remedial efforts of the Chittagong City Corporation and all other concerned authorities are both inadequate and ill-planned. The public representatives at the local as well as the national levels have always promised to solve the problem. But once elected they have either forgotten the promise or taken insufficient initiatives to rid the Chittagonians of this problem.
The root cause of Chittgong's severe water-logging is its chocked-up network of 16 major canals which are supposed to flush out the rain water. A large part of these canals have been encroached upon by the local influential people, causing disruption to the normal flow of water. Besides, the authorities concerned have not taken initiatives for re-excavation of these important canals and removal of obstacles to normal flow of water through those. Chittagong, unlike the capital city of Dhaka, is fortunate to have its canals and water bodies still in place. In the case of Dhaka, all the canals that once used to carry rain and waste water either to the Buriganga or to the Turag, are gone. So, water-logging problem of Chittagong could be solved with relatively less efforts and investment, if all the relevant authorities made concerted efforts to put the existing canals in their normal and natural state.
The main reason for Dhaka and Chittagong facing the problem of water-logging is the absence of a well-knit underground drainage system. In both the cities, the drainage system has developed on a piecemeal basis along with their gradual expansion to all directions. What has been more damaging is the extinction of the natural water bodies such as canals, ponds and beels because of lack of awareness among citizens, land grabbing and an indifferent administration. While the successive governments have failed to put in place an integrated drainage system for both the cities, no efforts were made to protect the all-important canals and other water bodies. The negligence is exacting too heavy a cost now. The cost is likely to be even heavier in the coming days unless the government takes urgent measures to repair the damage now.
Water-logging problem of port city of Chittagong
FE Team | Published: June 22, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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