Negligence blamed for waterlogging: DNCC

Staff Reporter :

Decades of negligence in maintaining Dhaka’s drainage and canal networks have left the capital highly vulnerable to waterlogging, Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Administrator Mohammad Azaz said on Monday.

Addressing a seminar organised by the South Asian Institute of Policy and Governance, Azaz said Monday morning’s rainfall had once again exposed how fragile the city’s system has become due to years of indifference. “Industries have been prioritised while the environment was neglected, and this is why Dhaka is in such a dire state. Even a little rainfall creates waterlogging,” he told the seminar.

Azaz highlighted DNCC’s recent initiatives, claiming that 112 kilometres of canals had been reclaimed in just three months without additional funds. “Earlier, hundreds of crores of taka were allocated for such work. We haven’t taken an extra penny,” he said.

He further informed that canals in Abdullahpur and Sonati areas were already recovered.
“If canals are recovered, river recovery will also be easier,” he added.

Reflecting on his six and a half months in office, the administrator said he had studied every inch of Dhaka’s rivers. “With only political goodwill, resolving waterlogging and reclaiming rivers is very much possible.”