City corporations taking over Dhaka’s drainage management
The two city corporations of Dhaka have finally taken over the management and maintenance responsibilities of 26 canals and 10 kilometres of box culverts from Dhaka Wasa. These canals and box culverts along with 385km of storm water drainage had been under Wasa's jurisdiction since 1988. However, Wasa had failed miserably to maintain these water bodies and reclaim the canals that have been grabbed by powerful quarters. As the city's waterlogging problem became acute during the past few years, the two city corporations had expressed their wish to take over the responsibility, claiming that they could solve these long-standing problems.
While we appreciate their taking over of the charge of drainage management, we would also like to remind them that reclaiming the city's canals from the clutches of the encroachers and cleaning them up are indeed a difficult job, for which they will need to work in coordination with other agencies concerned. Since most of the water bodies and canals of the city have been grabbed by politically powerful quarters, and some of them have even been occupied by the government itself, the city corporations will not be able to reclaim those without the help of the government agencies and local lawmakers concerned. Therefore, they will need to work in coordination with Wasa, Rajuk, Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) and the deputy commissioner's office who also have a role in managing the drainage of the city. The city corporations have to remember that it was not only Wasa that was at fault for Dhaka's waterlogging problem, rather, it was a collective failure of all the agencies concerned.
Having said that, we appreciate the commitment expressed by our mayors to rid the city of its long-standing waterlogging problem. They have pledged to turn the city into a modern one by reclaiming its water bodies and connecting the canals with each other. They have also pledged to arrange a water transport system and create more water retention areas. All these ideas are surely implementable, but for that they will need an integrated master plan. Reclaiming Dhaka's water bodies and cleaning up the canals have been a long-time demand of its residents. We expect the city corporations to start working to that end without wasting any time. It will eventually improve the city's overall environment as well.
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