Two-third of Khulna goes underwater

Residents of low-lying areas of Khulna city had to traverse submerged roads yesterday due to the waterlogging caused by rainfall, which was induced by cyclone Sitrang.

There are 1,215 roads under Khulna City Corporation (KCC). Due to lack of a proper drainage system, two-thirds of these roads were submerged  following Monday's downpour.

Amirul Azad, senior meteorologist of Khulna Meteorological Office, told The Daily Star that 217 millimetres of rainfall was recorded in the city in the last 24 hours till 6:00am yesterday.

Dolly Kundu, a resident of Sabuj Sangh Math area of Daulatpur, said, "Our area remains submerged though water has receded in many places."

Blaming poor drainage for the waterlogging, she called for cleaning the drains regularly and increasing their width.

Echoing the same, Rahul Sheikh,  a resident of Khalishpur Notunrasta, said, "Roads and drains of our area have not been repaired and cleaned for years. So when it rains, the locality goes underwater in a short time, with stagnant water even entering our households."

"BIDC Road in Khalishpur has been in a dilapidated state for two years. Our sufferings are unending," he added..

According to KCC sources, a project named "Development of Drainage System to Eliminate Waterlogging in Khulna City" was approved by Ecnec in July 2018 to eliminate waterlogging in the city. The project cost was Tk 823 crore. Works of the project's first phase began in October 2020.

"We are repairing over 50 drains to curb waterlogging problem of Khulna. Citizens will be relieved from waterlogging once the project is completed," said Aminul Islam Munna, panel mayor-1 of KCC.