Editorial
Addressing waterlogging
Coordinated action plan needed
Far from being a welcome break after a long spell of sweltering heat, the heavy downpour from morning to noon on Wednesday, as always, did prove to be a curse for the city. Curse, because most part of the city was engulfed by ankle to knee-deep water. As the city lacks proper drainage system, large swathes of the major arterial roads including lanes and by-lanes went under water thereby bringing the entire city to a standstill. And to make matters worse, one could find digging going on in different areas either by the City Corporation, or by Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA), or Telephone authority. Small wonder, the city witnessed the suffering of the pedestrians as well as commuters as they had to wade through rainwater mixed with stinking muck from the overflowing drains, the vehicles incapacitated on the roads submerged under knee-deep water and tailbacks longer than the usual ones.
In a word, the city turns into a nightmare every time that we have torrential rain. What is the way out? In this connection, it is worthwhile to note that the Parliamentary Committee on the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives (LGRD&C) has asked the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) to solve the problem of waterlogging and tailbacks in the city and submit a plan to this end. While appreciating the move, it needs also mentioning that the incumbent DCC Mayor being a lame duck one as he has already outlived his tenure in office and is now serving it by default, it naturally puts a damper on the prospect of any prompt and effective action from his office. And if our past experience is any guide, then it would be advisable to involve also other ministries and departments concerned rather than leaving the task to DCC alone.
Clearly, it is due to the poor drainage system that the problem of water logging gets so acute in the city after a medium to heavy rain. The authorities concerned are also well aware of it, as the city has seen still worse case of waterlogging during the deluge of 1988 as well as swamping by occasional cloudbursts in the past. Unfortunately, nothing substantial has been done thus far to address this nagging problem.
In the circumstances, last Wednesday's rainstorm should be a wakeup call to the authorities concerned. And in addressing the problem, the government should take a coordinated approach involving DCC, WASA as well as others concerned utility bodies who have a stake in turning the capital into a cleaner and better functioning city.
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