Fixing capital's drainage system should a be top priority

The monsoon season is upon us once again, bringing with it greater pressure on the city's drainage system that is already operating under severe strain and limitation. Every monsoon season, localities within the city find themselves water-logged due to the city's drainage system being unable to cope with the enormity of the problem.
The simple fact of the matter is that the drainage system has not been able to keep pace with the explosive population growth of the city. According to officials, around 90 kms more of pipes are needed and the existing pipes need to be widened just to deal with the current situation.
Compounding the problem has been the filling in of the canals, the city's natural drainage system, over the past three decades: 17 out of 43 canals have been filled in entirely, and the remaining 26 have been dramatically diminished due to encroachment and illegal building and dumping.
There are a number of measures needed to resolve the problem. The most pressing is to bring the entire drainage system, right now divided between WASA and DCC, under a single authority.
In addition, much more effort needs to go into cleaning up the drains and monitoring them to make sure they operate properly. There is a need for more pump houses, many more miles of pipes, more modern equipment, constant monitoring of the system, and sufficient manpower and resources to ensure that the system works as it should.
Ultimately, it is a question of priorities. Funding is available. All that is needed is the political will to address the issue with a scientific approach. Why fixing Dhaka's rickety drainage system has not been a higher priority so far is a mystery, but now it needs to be done. There is no greater threat to the quality of life of the residents of the capital city than the dysfunctional drainage system, which leads to water-logging, pollution, environmental hazards, and a variety of other ills. If this catalogue of miseries isn't worth immediate attention, what is?