Dhaka--vulnerable to flood

By A.B.M. Shafiqul Islam Dept. of English Jahangirnaga University
14 October 2004, 18:00 PM
The megacity Dhaka is now an overcrowded terrain which has become much vulnerable to floods. After the month-long flood and its thumping impact over the whole country, when flood-water started receding and the post-flood rehabilitation programmes were in full spate, Dhaka again went under knee-deep water due to the two days of torrential rain. Being the nerve-centre of the country, Dhaka must be kept well protected from being isolated from other parts of the country. It has been seen that Bangladesh does not get water at the time of need , while it goes under waist-deep water when it is absolutely unnecessary. It is because of the Farakka Barrage by which we have already had our fingers burnt. The problem of Dhaka originates from the poor management of catchment areas. Not only this, the marshes and lakes inside and around Dhaka city, which have been illegally occupied for real estate development , have contributed a lot to increasing the miseries of the water-logged people. The very constant and regular phenomenon of Dhaka city is the digging and re-digging of the roads by WASA, DESA, BWDB etc. which has greatly decimated the drainage system. As a result, free movement of water is impeded. If they dig the roads on the basis of coordination , the drainage system will not get a great jerk and will be able to accelerate the smooth receding of water.

Otherwise, the situation will never improve.