The spectre of a city floating on water
Wednesday, 13 June 2007
Enayet Rasul
EVERY year, during the rainy season, the waterlogging and flood-like conditions in the capital city -- and now also in the port city of Chittagong -- are turning worse. This year, the problems are likely to be manifested in worst fashion because of several factors. First of all, the monsoons have arrived early and the raining has been also found to be harder compared to recent years. Almost the entire length of the rainy season lies ahead. With the early arrival of the monsoon, plus the heavier than normal raining and the whole course of the rainy period to come, all of these factors are likely to put greater than normal stresses on the drainage systems of the major cities of the country, particularly its capital.
But as it is, the systems remain in rather poor shape from years of neglect. Thus, the anxiety has mounted whether the drainage systems will be able to demonstrate in any effective manner a coping effect in draining away successfully the potentially huge flows of water in this period. Only a steady torrent for over an hour last week that created flood like conditions at night in many parts of the capital city that immobilized vehicular traffic in knee deep or even higher level of waters in some places, served a grim early warning about a city to turn paralytic and take on the appearance of a floating entity during some days of intermittent but heavy rains which happen usually in the monsoon period.
It is now credibly speculated that intermittent normal showers prolonged for two days would lead to inundation of 40 per cent of the city while heavier rainfall for the same number of days could result in flooded conditions for 60 per cent of its areas. The more frightening projection is that such a city flood could take a longer time to disappear if the rains are combined with swelled rivers on the city's outskirts.
People cannot be blamed for worrying seriously about their ordeals in the coming months. As the experiences on city roads during the last couple of days showed after the rains, they will not be able to use their motorized vehicles frequently from fear of water getting into the engines and exhaust pipes. The CNG-operated baby taxis will face a similar plight. The rickshaws may ply in the inundated roads but that too with great effort and drudgery on the part of their pullers and the hazards of using these carriages in the inhospitable conditions by their users. In sum, mobility of traffic in the capital city could turn out to be dangerously low in the rainy period. Lanes and by-lanes in many parts of the city will remain submerged for days and those living on their sides will be confronted with the odious prospects of rolling up their trousers or saris and wading through the waters to reach higher or drier ground. Movement in the city, in sum, is likely to be very difficult, dirty and full of risks in the coming months.
But this would not have happened if previous governments had worked with any vision, real dedication and resolve, to overcome the problems of drainage on a sustainable basis. Over the years successive governments only presided over great indifference, corruption and neglect in dealing with the drainage-related needs. Massive amounts of money were wasted in shoddy drainage projects or in helping to improve them. That these projects have been too much shot with corruption, is transparent from their present ineffectiveness.
The present caretaker government should be thanked for going after the nabobs of corruption in different sectors. Should they not also cast their eyes on the lords of corruption in different governmental bodies who wasted public money in such profligate spending on drainage projects with the aim of only lining their own pockets? They also need to be nabbed and obligated to account for their self seeking and graft to which can be attributed the present pitiable drainage conditions of the city and the consequent mass suffering.
There was a time when the capital city had some 256 kilometers of natural canals, plus lakes and water bodies for retention of rain and flood waters and draining them away. But nearly 130 kilometers of such natural drainage channels were grabbed outright by various illegal occupiers years ago. They filled these water bodies and built all kinds of structures on them backed up by the powers of the ruling political parties. Only five out of some 50 canals maintain a feeble existence and can be identified at present. The present caretaker government made a move to recover some of these natural drainage channels. But the work has not progressed much.
But there is real opportunity for this government to leave a contribution for which the citizens would feel grateful. With the same kind of decisiveness and no compromise with which this government had freed thousands of acres of government-owned khaas lands, with the same kind of zeal, drive and promptitude, this government can pull out all the encroachers from the grabbed canals and adjacent lands. Following this exercise, they can take steps through fencing, excavation of the canals, building of roads and pavements along their banks, so that these cannot ever be grabbed again in the future. Doing of these things will mean a great achievement of this government towards a long-term solution of the drainage problem of the city. Unlike other caretakers governments, this one won't be in power for only three months but for at least another year and a half. This length of time should be sufficient for it to embark on such a programme of full or nearly full recovery of the drainage canals as well as sizeable part of the wetlands near the city that also served so well the purpose of natural draining of rain and flood waters in the past.
At the same time, the government should initiate and execute a project on urgent basis to expand the man-made drainage systems throughout the city. The Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) has a drainage system covering only about 140 kilometers out of the city's current size of 269 kilometers. Thus, there is a transparent need to much expand the drainage system through the laying of sewer lines, storm sewers, surface drains, box culverts, etc. The government should lose no time to formulate at the fastest such a project of extending physical drainage capacities and then to implement it with similar speed. This again is within the realm of the possible during the 18 month-long life of this government. The government can employ its resources directly for the project and seek to bolster financing for it from big donors agencies such as the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), etc. A good response is expected provided the government shows real interest for the earliest implementation of such a big project to improve drainage conditions.
The pictures of flooded conditions of Dhaka city do not send right signals to foreign investors. They are put off by such sights of the capital city. Thus, even the major donor agencies or our development partners are aware of the need to help us overcome this serious problem with their assistance. But a plan has to be initiated forcefully by the government, first, for the donors to consider their participation in it.
Meanwhile, the government should engage in activities -- right away --to flush very clean within the next couple of weeks the entire length and breadth of the man-made drainage systems. A crash programme will have to be started immediately to clean the blocked-off sewer lines, storm sewers and box culverts from all kinds of solid things that have found their way into them from human negligence. Firm law enforcement action will have to also taken against such negligent behaviour. There are pumps in some parts of the city to pump out rain and flood waters. But their numbers are limited. The pumps must be increased in number to cover the entire capital city and these should be also manned and operated efficiently to work round the clock during spells of heavy rains.
EVERY year, during the rainy season, the waterlogging and flood-like conditions in the capital city -- and now also in the port city of Chittagong -- are turning worse. This year, the problems are likely to be manifested in worst fashion because of several factors. First of all, the monsoons have arrived early and the raining has been also found to be harder compared to recent years. Almost the entire length of the rainy season lies ahead. With the early arrival of the monsoon, plus the heavier than normal raining and the whole course of the rainy period to come, all of these factors are likely to put greater than normal stresses on the drainage systems of the major cities of the country, particularly its capital.
But as it is, the systems remain in rather poor shape from years of neglect. Thus, the anxiety has mounted whether the drainage systems will be able to demonstrate in any effective manner a coping effect in draining away successfully the potentially huge flows of water in this period. Only a steady torrent for over an hour last week that created flood like conditions at night in many parts of the capital city that immobilized vehicular traffic in knee deep or even higher level of waters in some places, served a grim early warning about a city to turn paralytic and take on the appearance of a floating entity during some days of intermittent but heavy rains which happen usually in the monsoon period.
It is now credibly speculated that intermittent normal showers prolonged for two days would lead to inundation of 40 per cent of the city while heavier rainfall for the same number of days could result in flooded conditions for 60 per cent of its areas. The more frightening projection is that such a city flood could take a longer time to disappear if the rains are combined with swelled rivers on the city's outskirts.
People cannot be blamed for worrying seriously about their ordeals in the coming months. As the experiences on city roads during the last couple of days showed after the rains, they will not be able to use their motorized vehicles frequently from fear of water getting into the engines and exhaust pipes. The CNG-operated baby taxis will face a similar plight. The rickshaws may ply in the inundated roads but that too with great effort and drudgery on the part of their pullers and the hazards of using these carriages in the inhospitable conditions by their users. In sum, mobility of traffic in the capital city could turn out to be dangerously low in the rainy period. Lanes and by-lanes in many parts of the city will remain submerged for days and those living on their sides will be confronted with the odious prospects of rolling up their trousers or saris and wading through the waters to reach higher or drier ground. Movement in the city, in sum, is likely to be very difficult, dirty and full of risks in the coming months.
But this would not have happened if previous governments had worked with any vision, real dedication and resolve, to overcome the problems of drainage on a sustainable basis. Over the years successive governments only presided over great indifference, corruption and neglect in dealing with the drainage-related needs. Massive amounts of money were wasted in shoddy drainage projects or in helping to improve them. That these projects have been too much shot with corruption, is transparent from their present ineffectiveness.
The present caretaker government should be thanked for going after the nabobs of corruption in different sectors. Should they not also cast their eyes on the lords of corruption in different governmental bodies who wasted public money in such profligate spending on drainage projects with the aim of only lining their own pockets? They also need to be nabbed and obligated to account for their self seeking and graft to which can be attributed the present pitiable drainage conditions of the city and the consequent mass suffering.
There was a time when the capital city had some 256 kilometers of natural canals, plus lakes and water bodies for retention of rain and flood waters and draining them away. But nearly 130 kilometers of such natural drainage channels were grabbed outright by various illegal occupiers years ago. They filled these water bodies and built all kinds of structures on them backed up by the powers of the ruling political parties. Only five out of some 50 canals maintain a feeble existence and can be identified at present. The present caretaker government made a move to recover some of these natural drainage channels. But the work has not progressed much.
But there is real opportunity for this government to leave a contribution for which the citizens would feel grateful. With the same kind of decisiveness and no compromise with which this government had freed thousands of acres of government-owned khaas lands, with the same kind of zeal, drive and promptitude, this government can pull out all the encroachers from the grabbed canals and adjacent lands. Following this exercise, they can take steps through fencing, excavation of the canals, building of roads and pavements along their banks, so that these cannot ever be grabbed again in the future. Doing of these things will mean a great achievement of this government towards a long-term solution of the drainage problem of the city. Unlike other caretakers governments, this one won't be in power for only three months but for at least another year and a half. This length of time should be sufficient for it to embark on such a programme of full or nearly full recovery of the drainage canals as well as sizeable part of the wetlands near the city that also served so well the purpose of natural draining of rain and flood waters in the past.
At the same time, the government should initiate and execute a project on urgent basis to expand the man-made drainage systems throughout the city. The Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) has a drainage system covering only about 140 kilometers out of the city's current size of 269 kilometers. Thus, there is a transparent need to much expand the drainage system through the laying of sewer lines, storm sewers, surface drains, box culverts, etc. The government should lose no time to formulate at the fastest such a project of extending physical drainage capacities and then to implement it with similar speed. This again is within the realm of the possible during the 18 month-long life of this government. The government can employ its resources directly for the project and seek to bolster financing for it from big donors agencies such as the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), etc. A good response is expected provided the government shows real interest for the earliest implementation of such a big project to improve drainage conditions.
The pictures of flooded conditions of Dhaka city do not send right signals to foreign investors. They are put off by such sights of the capital city. Thus, even the major donor agencies or our development partners are aware of the need to help us overcome this serious problem with their assistance. But a plan has to be initiated forcefully by the government, first, for the donors to consider their participation in it.
Meanwhile, the government should engage in activities -- right away --to flush very clean within the next couple of weeks the entire length and breadth of the man-made drainage systems. A crash programme will have to be started immediately to clean the blocked-off sewer lines, storm sewers and box culverts from all kinds of solid things that have found their way into them from human negligence. Firm law enforcement action will have to also taken against such negligent behaviour. There are pumps in some parts of the city to pump out rain and flood waters. But their numbers are limited. The pumps must be increased in number to cover the entire capital city and these should be also manned and operated efficiently to work round the clock during spells of heavy rains.