Recovery of city canals

An initiative by the Dhaka Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) for recovery of canals from grabbers has apparently been prompted by the recent water-logging in many parts of the city. Why has it always to be such stop-gap measures instead of a comprehensive one putting the problem in a larger frame? The fact is that the WASA undertook under one such comprehensive plan -- the task of recovering 26 canals out of the 43 identified in 2004. A committee formed to identify the canals recommended recovery of only 26 because they found those were still recoverable. But apart from restoring water flow in one of the canals in old Dhaka, the plan failed to make much of any headway. Now that parts of the city have experienced inundation following moderate rains, the issue has once again come to the fore. This is management of affairs in a capital city like Dhaka at its worst.
About 10 years have passed since that initiative had been taken. Land-grabbers have surely taken full advantage of the WASA inaction meanwhile. Many of the 26 canals found recoverable then have by now gone beyond recovery. No contingency plan such as the latest one will be equal to the task of dealing with a problem like water-logging. Even the detailed area plan (DAP) has been stalled and tailored to suit the ill motives of a nexus of some dishonest politicians, Rajuk officials and land-grabbers. Even if recovered, the 50 or so canals that once criss-crossed the capital and disposed of rainwater in quick time would be of little use provided that the water bodies around the city were filled up for housing. Water bodies have gradually disappeared from around the city and today canals and storm sewerages have no outlets to water bodies at a lower level for quickly releasing the rain waters they carry. In old Dhaka, Dholai Khal alone could carry an enormous amount of water to the Buriganga because of its connection to the river.
The DAP was meant to retain the capital's natural setting in as viable a manner as possible. But political interference with the plan certainly points to an uncertain future for its implementation. The Buriganga has been encroached upon, so have been the other three rivers girdling the capital. So a terrible spectre of water-logging in the city is likely to unfold in the absence of a coordinated effort to restore the water bodies, the canals and the rivers. Dhaka city is rapidly expanding at the expense of its geo-morphological position and environment. For a city of this size to remain functional, it cannot overlook the suggestions made by urban planners and city experts. The authorities are actually doing this. Restoring the five canals under consideration will prove to be too little too late in the context of the overall need for disposing of the water accumulated following moderate to heavy rains. No half measures will do. All the authorities need to do is go by the DAP, if they really mean business.