Open drains and canals continue to claim lives

The body of a six-month-old baby was recovered on Saturday from a canal in Chattogram after the child had gone missing on Friday. A woman and her baby were travelling in a rickshaw when the baby fell into an open sewer, which had a strong current after rainfall. This story has tragically become one that plays out every now and then in Chattogram, notorious for its open drains and canals, where many have perished while others have been severely injured. A significant number of the victims were children. Despite lofty—and expensive—projects by the authorities to fix the city's drainage system, something as basic as closing all the open drains and canals to prevent people from falling into them has not been completed. Why such apathy for public safety?

In the last several years, there have been innumerable reports of people falling into open drains or canals, with some of the bodies never found. People have been expressing their fear, as most drains do not have protective slabs or retaining walls, which make them deadly after rainfall. The media has been relentlessly reporting on these incidents. Yet these deaths continue, robbing families of their loved ones.

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How many more will die before Chattogram’s drains are fixed?

The Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) and the Chattogram Development Authority (CDA) are the agencies responsible for maintaining and repairing the drainage system. They are therefore the main government bodies that should be held responsible for such criminal negligence. In 2021, the CCC found 5,527 risky spots along the drains, canals, and footpaths of the city. While around 80 percent of these spots have been covered and 70 percent of retaining walls built along the canals (according to a news report), there are still many vulnerable spots that are potential death traps—which is why a six-month-old baby had to die.

It is well known that these open drains and canals become clogged with silt and waste during the rainy season, causing them to become submerged, making it impossible to see them on the flooded roads. Thus, pedestrians or rickshaws falling into the drains, or people getting swept away by the open canals, has become a common occurrence. Yet the four projects worth Tk 14,389 crore initiated by the Awami League government could not complete the renovation of these canals and drains.

We expect the interim government to immediately take steps to demand answers from the CCC and CDA, and instruct them to cover the remaining risky spots on an urgent basis. Deaths caused by official negligence can no longer be tolerated. With the upcoming rainy season, they cannot afford to waste any more time.