Dhaka, one of the most densely populated cities in the world, becomes a water maze following each rain spell. The streets flood, traffic is jammed, and life comes to a halt. Dhaka’s sewerage system is old and in a state of ruin and is not capable of catering to even moderate rains. Ninety percent of the drains are narrowed, blocked, and broken and water overflows on to roads rather than flowing out. Major zones such as Mirpur, Shantinagar, and Badda have standing water for hours, or even days, following rain. With no upgradation, the city’s drainage system repeatedly fails because of seasonal load, and roads become flooded, infuriating the residents year after year.
Dhaka’s unmanaged, accelerated urbanization has considerably upset the natural water drainage. Wetland and low-lying land development block rainwater drainage, causing recurrent flooding. Dhaka lost more than 70% of its wetlands and up to 60% of its vegetation cover during the past two decades, studies have found. Natural water reservoirs have been replaced by buildings, roads, and illegal encroachment, channeling rainwater in search of an outlet. This record growth has reduced the city to a concrete bowl that neither retains nor drains rain.
Near 200 canals, lakes, and marshes which previously naturally drained rainwater, but less than 40 are now operational. Spurious development and landfilling have covered most water bodies, clogging or closing them totally. This has lowered the natural drainage capacity of the city, causing rain to cause water to stay on roads. Destruction of these crucial water bodies not only aggravates floods but also destabilizes the urban ecosystem, rendering the city more susceptible to waterlogging as well as environmental degradation.
Plastic and sand-lined blocked drains with rubbish significantly impede rainwater flow, causing repeated flooding. Rubbish is regularly dumped into stormwater drains directly by shop owners and residents, making them blocked pipes. Such neglect does not allow free flow of water, causing flooding of roads soon after rain. In Old Dhaka and Mirpur, piles of garbage clog drains, aggravating waterlogging and cleanup. Failure to clean drains and community awareness results in clogged drains as a top cause of urban flooding.
A few of these agencies overlap in powers related to water and drainage, such as WASA, DNCC, DSCC, and RAJUK. Such overlapping powers lead to confusion and inefficiency. This confusion while coordinating gives rise to bureaucratic lag in development and maintenance activities. Agencies finger-point at one another, creating poor accountability and lagging response to flood issues. The fragmented system creates delays in immediate repair and upgrading of drains, and people are exposed to long-term waterlogging and poor flood controls.
In July 2025, Dhaka continues to witness regular, intense rains causing severe waterlogging in areas like Mirpur, Manda, Mugda, and Motijheel. Intense precipitation episodes in the recent past overwhelmed the city’s drainage system, disrupting daily life. Studies blame this increase due to climate change, with rising frequency and intensity of monsoon rains predicted until 2029. Despite initiatives by the government, poor development and fast urbanization exacerbate flood problems. Experts call for urgent city planning and enhanced drainage systems to insulate against increasing risks of extreme weather and safeguard the residents of Dhaka.
Overutilization of hard surfaces such as roads and buildings have gone beyond reasonable limits, restraining rainwater percolation in the ground and hence natural recharging of the groundwater. All this results in increased runoff on the surface, filling up drain pipes and lands leading to flooding. Dhaka lost big open soils, parks, and greens that used to function like sponges to percolate rainwater. The quick substitution of permeable ground with non-permeable surfaces leads rainwater to become flowing floodwater, exacerbating waterlogging threats and further taking a toll on the city’s already inadequate drainage network.
Many flood-prone areas such as Shantinagar, Dhanmondi, and Mirpur lack or have non-functional pumping arrangements that lead to massive waterlogging during rain. Non-working or faulty pumps never maintained also do not clear excess water, and roads remain wet for days. Lack of Adequate, cutting-edge water management equipment aggravates the situation, especially in lowland areas. Without spending on pump infrastructure with higher capacity, the areas are threatened by recurrent flooding, which hinders normal operations and increases the health and economic risk of inhabitants.
Waterlogging is extremely detrimental to daily life by creating traffic jams and hindering smooth flow of traffic for all vehicles in the whole city. The citizens are deprived of accessing schools, offices, and public facilities as roads are filled with water, leading to tardiness and low productivity. Emergency response is affected as ambulances and fire trucks cannot move on flooded roads. These interruptions cascade to the general economy through increased travel time and operational expense, public safety, and residents’ health in affected areas.
Waterlogging results in enormous economic losses to businesses in terms of lost businesses and access diminishment by customers. Transport operators accumulate additional fuel consumption and delays, resulting in reduced revenues. Wage workers incur losses as they are unable to report to work on time. In addition, repetitive flooding hastens vehicle and infrastructure degradation at a higher cost of maintenance and repair. These synergistic factors exert pressure on the urban economy, increasing the cost for individuals and companies and hindering overall productivity and economic growth in targeted areas of flooding.
Water stagnation due to waterlogging facilitates the best breeding grounds for bacteria and mosquitoes that transmit waterborne diseases such as dengue, cholera, and skin infections. These health risks typically result in an outbreak following excessive rain and extended flooding. Hospitals are therefore overwhelmed with patients receiving medical attention at the cost of insufficient healthcare facilities. This public health infrastructure burden resists early diagnosis and treatment, hence compounding community health threats and elevating the overall burden on the health system of the city.
Restoration and conservation of canals replenishes natural drainage, whereas establishment of sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS) enables effective runoff management. Rainwater harvesting reduces the burden on drainage systems. Green cover land areas need to be aimed at for smart city planning with ban on construction in vulnerable areas. There should be strict enforcement against illegal encroachment for safeguarding water bodies. All of these steps collectively ensure long-term relief from flooding as well as increasing the resilience of the city against heavy rainfall and waterlogging.
MD. Noor Hamza Peash
LL.B. student, Department Of Law
World University of Bangladesh.
