Projects galore yet no relief from waterlogging for Ctg people

Houses flooded as heavy rain continues to hammer Chattogram. Photo: Mohammad Minhaj Uddin/ TBS

Second-year college student Nipa Palit had just left her home on Monday to attend the annual examinations.

She, however, never reached the examination centre. While crossing an inundated road, the 22-year-old fell in a drain and drowned, right in the middle of Chattogram city.

Nipa's death was the first reported casualty due to waterlogging in the city battered by the recent heavy rainfalls.

Although the authorities have taken various measures and expensive development projects over the years to battle waterlogging, experts have said a glaring lack of coordination has led to little result.

Three organisations – the Chattogram Development Authority, the Water Development Board and the Chattogram City Corporation – have been implementing at least four projects involving Tk15,000 crore in Chattogram for the last eight years to bring respite from the impact of rainfalls.

The projects involve the work of reclaiming, excavating, constructing walls and installing regulators for 57 canals, which carry water from the city to the Bay of Bengal, and the Karnaphuli and the Halda rivers.

The Chattogram Development Authority (CDA) is implementing two of these projects, while the two others are in charge of one each.

People involved in the projects said those were not effective due to a lack of coordination, lack of proper feasibility study, procrastination, design changes and slow implementation.

Alongside these, the government has also implemented projects worth Tk1.2 lakh crore in the last ten years in a development spree. These include the Bangbandhu Tunnel, the CDA Elevated Expressway, alongside those for water supply, the port and others.

While impressive on paper, the ground reality is as it stands: a vast expanse of a flooded landscape.

Speaking at a programme on Monday, Abdus Salam, former chairman of Chattogram Development Authority (CDA), stressed the importance of synergy between agencies responsible for approving and executing development projects.

Dr Shahadat Hossain, City BNP Convener, pinpointed a lack of coordination and planning between ministries and service providers as the central impediment to Chattogram's advancement.

He attributed the lack of coordination among politicians as a key factor exacerbating the situation.

The matter has also not gone unnoticed by the ruling party.

In a statement by the Chattogram Metropolitan Awami League, signed by the unit President Mahtab Uddin Chowdhury and General Secretary AGM Nasir Uddin called for development projects being implemented by the CCC and CDA should be completed quickly.

It urged the two to work in coordination, instead of trading blame.

Speaking to The Business Standard, Engineer Subhash Barua, president of Planned Chattogram, said, "Unplanned urbanisation and incompetence of the organisations who maintain drainage systems and implement projects are responsible for the waterlogging in the city." 

 Meanwhile as demands pour, the city continues to suffer year after year.

Delays dogging designs

A Tk9,526 crore being implemented by the CDA is scheduled to end in December this year. It involves reclaiming 36 canals, and constructing 176km of retaining walls, 45 bridges, drains and footpaths, with the project progress at around 80%.

The CDA is also constructing an embankment from Kalurghat Bridge to Chaktai canal alongside the Karnaphuli River at a cost of Tk2,746 crore. The project, scheduled to end in June 2024, has made progress of around 70%.

The Water Development Board's project, involving Tk1,620 crore, to reduce flood and waterlogging in Chattogram has progressed only around 30% in four years.

The CCC's Tk 1,362 project to dig a canal from the Baroipara area to the Karnaphuli River has not been completed even in nine years.

Delwar Majumder, former president of the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB), Chattogram Centre, told TBS, "Since these projects were launched, authorities concerned tell people every year that there will be no flooding next year. But the city is inundated every year. That is why people do not trust them now. I do not trust them either."

A drowning city

Knee-to-waist deep water has risen in various areas of the city including Muradpur, Bahaddarhat, Chawkbazar, Bakolia, Halishahar, Agrabad, CDA residential area, and Patenga, confining people to homes.

Various private educational institutions, alongside Chittagong University, announced closures due to the waterlogging.

Commuting has also become a nightmare.

Mahfuzur Rahman, an official of a private company, a resident of the Halisahar area of the city, told TBS, "I could not get the car out because of the water. CNG auto rickshaw drivers are demanding Tk300 for distances that could usually have a fare of Tk150."

All flights at Shah Amanat International Airport, however, remained normal. However, domestic route flights were delayed a bit, said sources.

Group Captain Taslim Ahmed, director of Chattogram Shah Amanat International Airport, told TBS, "Three flights from Dhaka could not land at Cox's Bazar airport due to adverse weather conditions. They arrived at the Chattogram airport and later landed at Cox's Bazar around 3:15pm, following around two and a half hours of delay."

The supply of consumer goods from the wholesale market was relatively low, traders said.

Azizul Haque, a wholesaler in Khatunganj, told TBS, "People are confined to their homes due to waterlogging. Customers are not coming to the markets."

Mahbub Rashid Khan, executive director of Water Transport Cell, a company that operates lighter vessels, told TBS, "Due to heavy rains, transportation of goods is hampered. Except for coal and stone, other goods are not being transported."

Meanwhile, retail markets were also reeling from the impacts of the waterlogging.

Meanwhile, the district administration and the CCC are evacuating the residents from hilly areas that are at risk of floods and landslides.

Chattogram Deputy Commissioner Abul Bashar Mohammad Fakhruzzaman told TBS that around 800 families have been safely evacuated since Saturday.