No imminent relief from water-logging in city

City-dwellers are yet to get any relief from water-logging, although the authorities concerned had spent billions of taka over the years to upgrade its drainage system, officials and urban experts said.
The two major stakeholders of the capital's drainage system - Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA) and both parts of Dhaka City Corporation-however, blamed each other for the recurrent water-logging, which has been taking its toll on city life every year during monsoon.
Dhaka and adjoining areas are flooded even after each light rainfall, with inundated roads and water-logging becoming constant sources of hassle for many residents, who struggle under adverse circumstances.
City residents, however, accuse the government of not taking steps to mitigate the water-logging before the rainy season.
Senior officials at Dhaka WASA also pointed out gradual disappearance of natural drainage system, caused by rapid population growth, unplanned development, encroachment on lakes, and haphazard disposal of solid waste into existing drainage system as the main reasons behind the water-logging.
When contacted, WASA's deputy managing director (operation and maintenance) Quamrul Alam Chowdhury said they receive insufficient financial fund for maintenance and development of the city's drainage system, which causes repeated water congestion during the rainy season.
"We have been getting Tk 50 million budget allocation for maintenance of the drainage system each fiscal year since 2005, and we have our own fund worth Tk 100 million each fiscal," he told the FE.
He said a city should have 10 to 12 per cent retention pond. Generally the rain water passes through these retention ponds and reaches canals. But Dhaka now has only three to four per cent retention pond.
Mr Quamrul said around 6,000 to 7,000 tonnes of solid waste are produced in the city. But the city corporation is able to move around 4,000 to 5,000 tonnes of solid waste. Rest of the waste is dumped to the drainage system, causing drain blockade.
"We'll set up temporary pumps at 12 to 13 points at beribadhs (embankment) in the city's western part within the next 30 days. Besides, construction work of two permanent pump stations at Rampura with 25,000 litre water per second capacity, and Kamlapur with 15,000 litre water per second capacity is under process. 
"The pump station at Rampura will be completed by August, while that of Kamlapur by December," he added.
WASA operates two permanent storm water pump stations at Dholaikhal and Kalyanpur of the capital. These two stations have the capacity to pump out 22,000 litre per second and 20,000 litre per second respectively.
On the other hand, Goran-Chadbari pump station under Bangladesh Water Development Board has the capacity to pump out 22,000 litre per second and its extension (another 22,000 litre per second) is under process.
Dhaka WASA has been implementing the second phase of a four-year project, involving Tk 2.98 billion, to remove water-logging in the densely-populated metropolis. The project will end on the last day of the outgoing fiscal (2013-14).
Seeking anonymity, an official who is engaged with the project said they have made a brick sewer, retention pond, u channel, gravity, retaining wall and canal under the project.
"Water-logging in and around the areas like the Prime Minister's residence, field of Dhaka International Trade Fair, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar and Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College will be removed in the coming days," he said.
He said they have drainage lines in the highly water-logged areas like journalist colony in Mirpur, Hazaribagh, Kurmitola and Manda, but they cannot connect those with the adjacent lakes and canals because of unplanned development and illegal occupation of public land by some vested quarters.
A superintending engineer of WASA expressed his dissatisfaction over the progress of the World Bank (WB)-funded project worth Tk 11.60 billion, saying that they have made only 12 per cent progress even after extending one year from the five-year official deadline, which will expire this month.
Citing a recent report of Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) of the Planning Commission, he said WB is deeply frustrated over the development activities.
"WB may withdraw its finance," he said, adding that Tk 1.28 billion has already been spent under the project.
According to the WB-funded project configuration, two storm water pumping stations worth Tk 2.29 billion will be installed at Rampura and Kamalapur, while Tk 1.12 billion will be spent for development of canals.  
The WASA officials also blamed the city corporations for the water-logging, alleging that they also installed drains of various sizes in the capital and connected those with the WASA drainage system without prior consultation with WASA, which is the coordinating agency in drainage management in the capital.
When contacted, chief engineer of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) Zahangir Alam denied the allegation. He said the problem of water-logging largely arises because of poor maintenance of the drainage system by WASA.
"There are 8.0 million cubic meter of waste stuck-up in the drainage pipeline of WASA from Shilpakala Academy to Manda, and two weeks ago WASA requested us for places for dumping the waste."
"WASA is the mandated authority to remove water-logging, and DCC is the owner of the roads. So, WASA needs to secure our approval," he added.    
Talking about the issue, urban planner Mubasshar Hussain said the state-owned service providing entities should stop the blame game for the sake of reducing public sufferings.
"Lack of coordination among the service providers is the main problem. They must work in a coordinated way to ensure civic amenities," he added.