Traders at Chaktai-Khatunganj suffer from waterlogging

Many areas of Chaktai-Khatunganj, a wholesale hub for essential commodities, are inundated by rainwater every day and the water enters ground-level shops and warehouses, causing untold damages in the area.

According to the Khatunganj Trade and Industries Association, traders in the area incur huge losses during the rainy season as it becomes badly waterlogged.

Flash floods destroy huge consignments of essential goods, including kitchen staples such as onion, garlic, rice, lentil, sugar, and spices due to the poor maintenance of Chaktai canal, a major route for receding water to clear the area, local businessmen said.

Most businesses or housing establishments in Chaktai-Khatunganj and Asadganj areas are built two or three feet above ground level to keep the water out and save goods from a tidal wave of rainwater.

However, during full or new moons, nothing can deter the water from its course, various traders said.

"We approached the city mayor as well as the chairman of the Chattogram Development Authority (CDA) and the commerce ministry several times but not one pays any heed to our pleas for help to save Khatunganj," said Sagir Ahmed, general secretary of the Chaktai-Khatunganj Warehouses Samiti.

The CDA is yet to complete the construction of a sluicegate or re-excavate the canal even though it took the responsibility for a project three years ago. If the problem is not resolved quickly, traders will turn away from the 200-year-old market, he said.

Before 2000, about 50 per cent of Khatunganj's trade was conducted through the waterway. But now, due to the narrowing and filling of the canals, trade through the waterway has come down to less than 2 per cent.

"Waterlogging happens mainly because the canals were paved on the bottom back in 1996," he added.

The area is home to about 4,000 businesses and more than 5,000 warehouses. These businesses have suffered from waterlogging and flash floods since 2007, incurring crores of taka in losses each year in the process.

"Every year we incur huge losses. We want an end to the chronic waterlogging problem," Mahbubul Alam, president of the Chattogram Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told The Daily Star.

The government took the initiative before but could not implement it within the stipulated timeframe, he said, adding that the CDA and the City Corporation should put special emphasis on solving the issue to save the major commercial hub.

Meanwhile, the Bangladesh army has undertaken a task to complete an ongoing mega project worth Tk 5,616 crore, aimed at alleviating the waterlogging crisis in Chattogram city.

"We are working to eliminate the waterlogging in the Chaktai-Khatunganj area. The development of a retaining wall on one side of Chaktai canal has been completed and the rest of work will be completed after the rainy season," said Project Director Shah Ali.