Separate ministry for urban management suggested

Experts have called upon the authorities concerned to keep 144 km canals and peripheral rivers in and around Dhaka city to ensure smooth flow of natural drainage system to solve the water logging problem in Dhaka city.
They also noted the box culverts constructed by Dhaka WASA in the name of drainage has aggravated the water logging situation here and it will deteriorate in the coming days as these have already been blocked in many places. They held the governments including present and past responsible for the present water logging problem as they have failed in managing city which has created water logging.
Their observations came Wednesday at a seminar on 'Reasons and Mitigation Measures for Removing Water Logging Problem in Dhaka City and Other Urban Areas of Bangladesh' at Institution of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh (IDEB) in the city. IDEB, Dhaka District and IDEB study and research cell jointly organised the seminar and iftar party.
IDEB study and research cell member Eng Kazi Habib Ullah presented the keynote paper while IDEB Dhaka District president Eng Khabir Hossain chaired the discussion.
In his paper Mr Habib said unplanned land filling is taking place at the eastern part of Dhaka city unabated. There is no regulation in this part of the city. Natural flow of water has been interrupted by infrastructural intervention.
"Every city must have 10 to 15 per cent water bodies and green areas. If we cannot control the unplanned urbanisation in the north-eastern part of Dhaka, the city will see a disaster within next 20 years," Mr Habib said.
He noted each and every canals of the city was very much interconnected and drainage system was smooth in early days.
He said there is one treatment plant for the waste by which only 10-15 per cent of the population can be served which is not desirable.
"The treatment plant at Pagla can utilize 30 per cent of its capacity. At least another five treatment plants are required for the city," he added.
Mr Habib demanded immediate establishment of a drainage authority as per the recommendation of the first Drainage Master Plan prepared in 1968 by Snells and partners to improve the water logging situation.
IDEB study and research cell chairman and a discussant on the keynote paper Eng MA Gofran said the main cause of water logging is encroachment of the rivers and canals. Although there are lots of rivers and canals on the map, many new buildings are being constructed on those without permission.
He said another reason is excessive rain during July-September period which constitutes 75 per cent of the total annual rainfall.
Mr Gofran said 75 per cent of the country's total population by the end of this century and 50 per cent of the population by 2050 will live in urban areas which is inevitable.
Citing example of Hong Kong, he said 100 per cent of its population live in urban areas there but there is no water logging as there is proper urban management.
He suggested a separate ministry for urban management except for forming an urban authority considering the gravity of the situation.
IDEB chairman and special guest of the seminar Eng AKMA Hamid said all the government including the present and past have failed to manage the cities as water logging has become common problem for all the cities.
Besides DAWASA has built box culverts in the name of drainage which will further deteriorate the situation in the coming days. This water authority has been continuously extracting the underground water which has made the city vulnerable as it will go down further. People are awaiting a disastrous future of Dhaka city, he added.
The speakers suggested to clean the unconduit drains before May and keep open the canals to avoid water logging problem because of the rainfall in June. They also suggested proper coordination among the concerned authorities like DWASA, PWD, WDB, Dhaka city corporations for managing water logging, sewerage and drainage, timely drainage network maintenance, recovery of flood planes and fore shores, ETP for all the factories situated on the river banks and political commitment to protect the cities.