Water logging in Mirpur to persist as seven canals not restored

17 February 2008, 18:00 PM

Raihan Sabuktagin

Encroachment on Rupnagar canal in Mirpur continues due to delay in restoration work.Photo: STAR

Water logging in Mirpur area will persist unless the seven canals -- earmarked by canal restoration and implementation committee under home ministry -- are restored to maintain uninterrupted water flow before this rainy season, said the chief of drainage wing at Dhaka Wasa (Water and Sewerage Authority). During a field visit to the canals -- Rupnagar-Duaripara main sewerage canal with its three branches, Housing canal, Journalist Colony canal and Baishtaki canal, this correspondent did not witness any restoration work. In stark contrast, the correspondent came across a number of land grabbers who were busy filling up the Rupnagar-Duaripara main sewerage canal near the end of Road 27, 28 and 29 of Rupnagar residential area. Zahirul Alam, chief of Dhaka Wasa drainage wing, told this correspondent, "Preparing these canals by cleaning, digging and repairing the banks for a smoother water flow would need some more time during the dry season." The entire Mirpur area, especially Shewrapa, Kazipara, Senpara, Paikpara Monipur, Section 11, and Journalist Colony, experience massive water logging during the rainy season, he said adding, "Thousands of people suffer here due to the water logging even after a brief rain." The canal restoration and implementation committee last October decided that the seven canals would be restored on urgent basis so that these can help improve the water logging situation in Mirpur area by the current year, said Zahir. He however hoped that the restoration work of the canals would be completed before January next year. Asked why the work did not start yet, he said, "We haven't yet got the official authority to maintain the seven canals. How can we restore the canals without that?" First of all the National Housing Authority (NHA) will have to evict land grabbers form the banks of the canals and hand the canals over to the Wasa, Zahir explained saying that the Wasa will then clean up and excavate the canals to connect these with other canals in the city. "We would be able to at least prepare the canals for rain water disposal within a short time if we even get the maintenance charge of the canals by this month," he said. Until blockages the canals are cleared and these are connected with the city's network of canals, water logging in Mirpur will continue, he cautioned. The NHA will handover the maintenance charge of the canals to Dhaka Wasa after demarcating the canals and evicting the unauthorised occupants, said chief of NHA's Mirpur zone office. Nurul Islam, executive engineer of NHA Mirpur zone, said a lawsuit had been stalling the land grabber eviction work, but NHA won the legal battle recently. Pointing to legal disputes as one of the main obstacles, he said the NHA plans to evict all the land grabbers including the ones on Road 27, 28 and 29 in Rupnagar residential area and demarcate the canals within next four weeks. Mokhlesur Rahman, a homeowner on Road 28 in Rupnagar residential area, said a group of influential people illegally occupied the canals and disturbed the sewerage system in the area. Due to the illegal filling up of the canal at the end of the road, the drainage system in the residential area gets clogged up regularly, he complained. "During the rainy season, it gets very difficult to use the roads in the residential area as most roads become flooded with sewage overflowing from drainage junctions."