Rain Leaves Dhaka, but Slums Still Wait for Help
Photo: Agamir Somoy
At the hour when most of Dhaka was settling in for the night, the residents of Korail slum remained wide awake, trapped in waist-deep floodwaters that would not recede.
From children to the elderly, everyone had taken shelter on top of beds, with furniture piled up there as well. Cooking stoves are submerged, and many have not had a single bite to eat. Residents in almost all of Dhaka’s slums, like Korail, are facing the same plight.
Over Saturday and Sunday, Dhaka recorded a total of 175 mm of rainfall. The heavy downpour left most areas under the jurisdiction of the two city corporations of Dhaka underwater.
As a result, commuters faced various hardships throughout the day. Although water began to recede in most areas by evening, and both city corporations moved quickly to solve the crisis, Dhaka’s slums were excluded from that fast-track list.
Hasibur, a resident of the Korail slum, said, “Children and the elderly have been sitting on beds all day. The fridge, TV, and all furniture have been placed on the bed. Those who did not have a bed are being forced to buy new ones to save their fridge and TV. This has cost many people extra money.”
Another resident named Ali added that he had to buy a bed for Tk 2,000 that usually costs Tk 500. Along with Korail, various low-lying areas and slums in Dhaka, including several in the Kalshi and Mohakhali areas, are submerged in waist-deep water.
Cooking stoves in the slums are underwater, leading to a crisis of food and drinking water. The condition of four slums behind the Sholobigha playground in Kalshi is the most dire.
Shila, a resident of that slum, said, “While the administrators of Dhaka are busy removing water from different areas, we have to wait for the water to go down on its own.” She complained that there is no effort from the government’s side to drain the water quickly.
Some houses in the Sattola slum of Mohakhali have also been flooded. Zobayer, a resident there, told Agamir Somoy, “Those who have to cook on mud stoves are suffering the most because of the rising water. There is still waist-deep water in the Korail slum.”
Earlier, around 10 pm, another resident of Sattola slum named Mozammel, added, “We have been waterlogged since the rain. The children haven’t eaten. No one has come with any help or assistance yet.”
Urban planners and sociologists said low-income people are always excluded from civic amenities, and the lack of attention to slum dwellers is the greatest proof of this.
While everyone begins to worry about the entire city after heavy rain, there is no one to think about the slum dwellers. They believed that as long as such inequality exists in society, there will be no true development in the country.
