Every year during the monsoon season, we see waterlogging and urban flooding in Dhaka and other major cities. The rivers around Dhaka carry floodwater upstream, causing river floods. When the river water level is higher than the water level inside the dam, the regulator and sluice gate have to be closed, and the pump has to be turned on to get the rainwater out.
What are the reasons?
1. Most of the natural canals in the city are occupied and filled with rainwater.
2. Lowland and ponds act as reservoirs of rainwater. Many ponds have been illegally filled with houses, housing projects, office buildings, or shopping malls.
3. Due to the rapid urbanization of Dhaka, all the rainwater is flowing into the sewers and natural canals, and not much water is flowing under the ground.
4. Due to a lack of effective waste management, sewage, and natural canals are filled with garbage, and the flow of rainwater is greatly reduced.
5. Ineffective coordination among multiple agencies involved in drainage management has exacerbated the crisis.
6. Many studies have shown that climate change due to increased greenhouse gas emissions has increased the amount of rainfall and the number of floods.
7. Lack of an effective early flood warning system leads to inconsistency in planning, regulation, and pump management.
8. Due to unplanned urbanization and lack of effective planning, waterlogging and urban flooding occur even in low rainfall.
9. The drainage is slow due to the breakage of the regulator and inoperative sluice gate.
10. Due to the flooding of the rivers around Dhaka, the river water is slowly receding, and the stability of urban floods is increasing.
What can be done to get rid of this condition?
The Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology and other institutes have prepared many flood and urban flood advice papers through research. Dhaka WASA prepared a drainage master plan in 2015, the implementation of that has not progressed or benefited the city dwellers. Here is a brief outline of what can be done to alleviate the city's waterlogging and urban flooding in the shortest possible time overall.
1. Dhaka WASA Drainage Master Plan 2015 mentions a total of 47 canals. These canals need to be rescued, and their boundaries need to be demarcated.
2. According to the National Water Policy 1999, important cities and capitals must be completely flood-free, and necessary measures have been recommended to be taken on a priority basis.
3. The proposed 'Dhaka Integrated Flood Control Embankment-cum-Eastern-Bypass Road Multipurpose' project east of Dhaka needs to be implemented soon. However, the project needs to be environmentally tolerant and risk-free from climate change.
4. It is essential to determine and preserve the boundaries of natural canals, reservoirs, and ditches. Drainage can be arranged through natural canals instead of box culverts.
5. Effective waste management needs to ensure that sewage and natural canals are not filled up.
6. It is necessary to take measures to clean the sewers before the monsoon season. Drainage construction, repair, and excavation work must be done during the dry season.
7. The Dhaka City Corporation needs to be entrusted with sewers, natural canals, sluice gates, dams, regulators, and pump houses.
8. It is important to establish a drainage circle in Dhaka City Corporation. There is a need to formulate a city drainage management plan every 5 years.
9. An effective flood precaution modeling cell needs to be opened in Dhaka City Corporation with the help of the Meteorological Department.
10. Sluice gates, regulators, and pumps need to be turned on and off as per the warning of urban floods.
11. Rainwater harvesting is required to conserve rainwater from the house's roof and make it flow underground.
12. Plastic bags and single-use plastics must be banned urgently.
13. It is important to dredge the rivers around Dhaka.
14. Raising civic awareness so that garbage is not dumped in sewers and natural canals. The sand, bricks, stones, and cobble used to build a house must be covered.
15. A high-level technical committee is required for waterlogging and urban flood management.
Now is the time to take effective measures to prevent waterlogging and flooding in the city. Otherwise, we will have to face constant floods in the city with little rain, which is not desirable for the city dwellers.
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