Canal restoration effort: What’s new this time?

Every monsoon, when the major streets of Dhaka city go underwater after a 20-minute downpour, city dwellers start to talk about the canals and wetlands the city lost during its endless pursuit of 'development' and expansion.

This year's monsoon is still a few months away. Perhaps this is why the disgusting sewage-mixed flooding is out of people's minds, and earlier this week, when three advisers inaugurated canal restoration activity in the capital's Mirpur 13 area, the 'red carpet' laid for them on the floating excavator became the talk of the town instead of the renovation initiative itself.

Then again, efforts to recover some of these encroached, terminally degraded canals are not new. Former Dhaka North mayor Atiqul Islam put in some real effort in recovering some of these canals and even put up a spectacular show where he rode a dinghy in a polluted canal to prove the prospect of navigability of these canals. But many of the canals soon underwent some scale of encroachment and, not to mention, pollution.

So it is not quite unfair of the citizens to doubt the outcome of the initiative taken by the interim government, and consequently the red mat — which the city corporation said was laid on the slippery surface just for safety — becomes a matter of online trolling.

We asked Mohammad Azaz, chairman of River and Delta Research Centre (RDRC), what is new in the latest attempt to restore the flow of water in the city's canals. Azaz took part in the formulation of the master plan of this project.

"This time, we are going to share the canal reclamation activities with the local communities," Azaz said.

"Usually, after cleaning a canal, authorities forget about it. Then locals pollute the canal again and, in some cases, encroach on it, but no one cares. This time, we're going to give the ownership of the canals back to the local people," he continued.

The researcher informed us that after the cleaning and excavation of the canals are done, the slope and the banks will be worked on. The authorities will then check the CS map of the area and determine if any parts of the canals are illegally occupied, which will then be reclaimed. 

Locals, including school students and house-owners' associations, will be asked to cultivate the banks of the canals. 

"When people farm, they don't even let chickens enter the piece of land they are cultivating. They will protect the canals," Azaz shared the idea, adding that the respective city corporation will provide logistics support to the agricultural activity with seeds, gardeners, labourers, and whatever else is necessary.

When people use the canal, they will not pollute it, Azaz expects. "Even if they do, the pollution will be kept to a minimum." The gardener in charge will also clean any garbage thrown in the canal, Azaz elaborated.

Nineteen canal committees have already been formed with the participation of locals, he said. Authorities have planned renovation work on 19 canals, and work on six of them has started this week. The works are to be completed in a couple of months before the monsoon. Once the work is done, the canals will be handed over to the canal committees. 

As part of the first phase of the initiative to restore water flow in 19 canals, Environment, Forest, Climate Change, and Water Resources Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan inaugurated renovation work on four canals in Dhaka North and two in Dhaka South on 2 February.

Five ministries, including the Ministry of Environment and Climate, the Ministry of Local Government, the Ministry of Housing and Public Works, and both the city corporations and zilla parishad and other relevant agencies have been brought under the same umbrella and engaged with the work. 

Local Government Adviser Asif Mahmud said during the inauguration program that the exchange of letters among the relevant ministries and agencies would have eaten up a few years in the past. However, the integrated actions have enabled the government to begin the renovation work in a short time.

The funds needed for the work have been estimated and the sources identified, Azaz said. He made it clear that the expenses have been kept at a minimum.

"In the past they planned quay walls, cycle lanes, etc., making the project engineering-based and complex. We are keeping it organic and low cost. It will be a land-nature-based agro-ecological restoration," Azaz explained. He is confident that the outcome of the activities will be visible within six months.

Asked if the sewer water will be prevented from entering the canals, Mohammad Azaz said it will be done in the long term, as it requires huge construction projects. But he added that small filtration mechanisms will be attached to the sewage lines connected to the canals to see if they work.

Dhaka Wasa has acquired land for constructing four sewage treatment plants in different parts of the capital, but the project has not advanced so far. Azaz said the project documents have been made to move on a priority basis after the interim government took office.

According to reports, existing sewage treatment plants in Dhaka treat only 30% of all sewage waste.

The authorities understand that without preventing the wastewater from mixing in the canals, the restoration projects will not be successful.

Rizwana Hasan said during the inauguration of the canal restoration activities at Baunia Canal, "If the canal's water is smelly, no one will walk along it no matter how beautiful the walkway is. Hatirjheel is beautiful, but one has to put a handkerchief on the nose while walking near it."

The adviser admitted that the interim government will not be able to complete all the work within its short tenure. It is starting the restoration work, and the next government will keep building on it.

Acknowledging the longstanding nature of the canal issues, Asif Mahmud also said, "This problem cannot be solved overnight. One of our key initiatives is to develop a 'blue network' — an interconnected waterway system designed like a park, encouraging people to engage with the canals rather than avoid them."

Despite the shortcomings, locals are hopeful about the restoration project. Since there is no political pressure at the moment, they expect that the restoration work will succeed. 

"We will support the restoration work of the canals. This will improve the environment we live in," said Kamrul Islam, a man in his 60s from Mirpur 13.

In the first phase, a 21-kilometre length of six canals — Baunia, Rupnagar, Begunbari, Manda, and Kalunagar — as well as Korail Lake, is slated for renovation before the start of the monsoon. The work for reclaiming 13 more canals will be started thereafter.