Waterlogging still the sorrow of port city

Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) Mayor AJM Nasir Uddin completes the second year of his five-year term today, still struggling to address the city's debilitating waterlogging -- one of his key election pledges.

According to city dwellers, the problem is “worsening” every year.

Due to heavy rainfall, coupled with tidal water, Halishahar, Bakalia, Chandgaon, Agrabad, Bayezid, Muradpur, Chawkbazar, KB Aman Ali Road, and Cement Crossing areas went under knee to chest deep water for the second consecutive day yesterday.

The residents of the port city have experienced this for at least six times in the last six months. Every time it rains, roads go under water, houses and offices get flooded, businesses and livelihoods become affected, dealing a heavy blow to the daily life of the city dwellers. 

Abdus Samad, a resident of Bakalia DC Road, said, “Nasir won mayoral polls pledging to build Chittagong as a clean and green mega-city. But we see the city is now under water.” 

Nasir took office on July 25, 2015. During his election campaign, Nasir came up with a number of pledges and promised to fulfil those, if voted to power. 

Solving the perennial waterlogging problem topped the list. His other pledges include bringing back the city's previous glory as a clean city, restoring discipline in CCC, developing the road communication system, removing illegal billboards, enhancing recreational opportunities and healthcare facilities for the citizens. He also pledged to make the city a “dream mega-city”.

But, waterlogging, which has turned worse these days, has been the centre of attention.

City dwellers alleged the canals have been silted; therefore, those cannot contain the rainwater during monsoon and overflow, causing waterlogging in adjacent areas. The drains also remained clogged and cannot drain out the rainwater quickly, they alleged.

Asked about Nasir's two years in office, Prof Sikander Khan, vice chancellor of East Delta University, Chittagong, said removing illegal billboards is a huge success for Nasir, but he has “failed” to free the footpaths from illegal occupiers.

The mayor has taken some initiatives including providing bins to houses for door to door garbage collection, to make the city clean and green, said Prof Sikander.

But the pace of these initiatives has slowed down now, he said, adding that many large dustbins were not monitored regularly.

Moreover, potholes have developed on roads due to poor road maintenance, he said.

Most importantly, the mayor could not improve the waterlogging situation; rather, the intensity of the problem is increasing every year.

This happens because drains and canals are not cleaned properly, Prof Sikander said. 

A doctor's chamber flooded so deep that the chairs almost sank in the water, at Maa O Shishu Hospital in Agrabad, one of the several parts of Chittagong city hit hard by waterlogging. Photo: Anurup Kanti Das

Echoing him, Nasir Uddin Chowdhury, former first vice president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMA), said removing illegal billboards is a great achievement for the mayor.

But the city lags behind in terms of cleanliness and greenery, he said, adding, the mayor has taken some initiatives in this regard but he will have to be strict in freeing footpaths.

“We do not see any visible progress in solving the waterlogging problem, rather the problem is getting worse every year,” he added.

This correspondent talked to former CCC mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury about Nasir's completion of two years in office. 

Mohiuddin, who was a CCC mayor for 17 years, said Nasir was trying his best but “could not succeed”.

“…it is possible to fix the waterlogging problem in the city; for this, planned initiatives will have to be taken,” he said.

“Dredging in the Karnaphuli is a must,” he said. “We do not know if there is any initiative in this regard.”

“During my tenure, the canals and drains were cleaned regularly, but now the work is not done properly. So all the canals are silted and they cannot contain water during monsoon,” said Mohiuddin, also president of Chittagong city unit Awami League.

A man walks out of a house; the water level a few more inches high, he would have to come out swimming. Photo: Anurup Kanti Das

Contacted, M Manjur Alam, the immediate past mayor of CCC, said people of the city want to get rid of waterlogging. Nasir pledged to address waterlogging during his election campaign and people expect him to do so, he said.

“Nasir has just completed two years of his five-year tenure…it needs time to complete such big tasks like addressing the waterlogging problem.”

“From media reports, I came to know he took some projects including a drainage master plan…now let's see what happens in the days to come,” said the former mayor. 

Asked, CCC Mayor Nasir said it is natural that people would express dissatisfaction if they do not get proper services they were supposed to get.

He said he set separate priorities in the first and second years.

Regarding the dilapidated road condition, Nasir said heavy rain has caused damage to the roads. “…we will go for full-fledged repair of all the roads after the rainy season.”

A significant change will be visible in the waste management within this year, he said.

With roads under deep water, people travel on a rickshaw van to stay dry. Photo: Anurup Kanti Das

Regarding hawker eviction, the mayor said he would not evict hawkers from footpaths forcibly as around 12 lakh slum dwellers shop from footpaths.

“But I am trying to bring discipline as we allow them on the footpaths after 5:00pm, and we will also give them ID cards.”

Regarding illegal occupation of canals, he said CCC has taken initiative to demarcate the boundary of the canals as per R/S survey. “Once we complete it, we will start eviction...”

Regarding waterlogging, Nasir said waterlogging occurs in different areas for different reasons. “We have detected these reasons…”

To mitigate the problem, the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved excavation of a new canal, he said, adding that the work of land acquisation will be started soon.

“I have talked to the chairman of Chittagong Port Authority over capital dredging of the Karnaphuli River and he told me that the work would be started immediately.”