Water saga worth billions of taka and inundation of Dhaka

There is a city in this country—where, as soon as the monsoon arrives, the roads become rivers, intersections turn into ponds, and people become temporary boatmen. And newspaper headlines read "Dhaka Dubi" (Dhaka sinks). Yet, to keep this city from sinking, thousands of crores of taka are spent year after year. Plans are drawn up on paper, budget figures swell, and various programs are inaugurated. The only scene that hasn't changed is the ankle-to-waist-deep water that accumulates the moment it rains.

Take last Saturday evening to Sunday evening, 6 PM, for instance. In just 24 hours, Dhaka recorded 175 millimeters of rain. This alone submerged most roads across the capital's two city corporations—from north to south. In some places, buses stopped running; in others, cars broke down; and people waded through waist-deep water to get home. The normal lives of millions of citizens seemed to grind to a halt in just a few hours of rain.

Yet, over the past five years, the Dhaka North and Dhaka South City Corporations have spent 1,793 crore and 50 lakh taka on projects such as canals, storm-water drains, sewer cleaning, pump house maintenance, lake development, and culvert repairs. On top of that, over the past six years, another approximately 708 crore and 13 lakh taka was allocated specifically for waterlogging mitigation. Combined, nearly 2,500 crore taka has been allocated for draining water from the capital. Sometimes, the two corporations have spent even more outside of these budget heads. Still, a few hours of moderate to heavy rain submerges the entire city. So the question is not new; rather, it returns every monsoon—where did all this money go?

Budgets increased in the North, but water hasn't decreased

According to Dhaka North City Corporation's accounts, since 2020, spending on canals, drains, pump houses, sewer cleaning, lake development, and culvert repairs amounted to 171 crore and 50 lakh taka. Among these, in FY 2021-22, the expenditure was 12 crore and 72 lakh taka. The following year, it rose to 23 crore and 18 lakh; then dropped to 13 crore and 60 lakh. In FY 2024-25, it jumped to 47 crore, and in the most recent fiscal year, it reached 75 crore.

On the other hand, solely for waterlogging mitigation over the past six years, the North City Corporation spent 277 crore and 75 lakh taka. Combined, the North's total budget-expenditure stands at 449 crore and 25 lakh taka. Beyond this, crores more were spent on various development projects. Nevertheless, Saturday night's rain submerged most of North Dhaka's main roads.

In the South, the figures are larger, but the results are the same

Dhaka South City Corporation allocated 1,623 crore taka over five years under the banners of canal recovery, renovation, and creating aesthetically pleasing environments. In just FY 2022-23 alone, the allocation in this sector was 871 crore taka. In the following years, budgets continued to be in the hundreds of crores.

Along with this, the corporation allocated another 430 crore and 63 lakh taka over six years for waterlogging mitigation. All together, since 2020, the total budget-expenditure of the South City Corporation stands at 2,053 crore and 63 lakh taka. Yet, despite spending so much money, the reality has not changed. With the first major rainfall of the monsoon, countless areas of South Dhaka transform into a waterlogged city.

Plans on Paper, Water on the Ground

According to urban planners, the most effective way to eliminate waterlogging in Dhaka is to recover canals, free them from encroachment, and keep drains regularly cleaned. However, in reality, the budget figures have received more importance than actually carrying out these tasks.

Urban planner Dr. Adil Muhammad Khan said that Dhaka's future is supposedly 'bright'. He pointed out that despite all these years, the two city corporations have not even been able to create a unified master plan. The drainage master plan that Dhaka WASA prepared in 2015 was also not effectively adopted.

He reminded that the 1995 Dhaka Structure Plan clearly outlined where water bodies would be, where drains would go, and which canals must be kept free of encroachment. But even that plan has been virtually ignored.

According to Dr. Adil, due to the loss of water bodies and open soil in Dhaka, rainwater has no place to drain away. Therefore, merely increasing the budget will not solve the problem; what is needed is political goodwill, enforcement of laws, and long-term planning.

More Busy with Inaugurations than Canals

Urban planners allege that instead of cleaning canals and freeing them from encroachment before the monsoon, the two city corporations have spent their time on various ceremonial programs, including inaugurations, exchange-of-views meetings, clean days, app launches, tree planting, and training sessions.

They claim that if this time had been spent on developing canals, drains, and the drainage system, the situation could have been different.

There are allegations that since last March, the administrator of South City has not been seen involved in activities regarding any canals other than the one on Zia Sarani. However, he has visited Dhanmondi Lake several times for eviction drives. Since ministers and MPs walk in Dhanmondi in the morning—and it catches their attention—all major work in South Dhaka revolves around this area. Before the monsoon, from last April to the following three months, Administrator Md. Abdus Salam was not seen on the canal banks. Now, amid the waterlogging, he has told the citizens to 'be patient'.

North City has done the same. They pass their time with this festival and that inauguration. Once a month, they call the media to the canal banks for an eviction drive. After that, Administrator Md. Shafiqul Islam Khan is nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, on another day, he goes to another place for another program. This is how Dhaka's two administrators are spending their time.

Even 141 Hotspots Could Not Save the City

This year, the two city corporations identified 141 waterlogging hotspots. But in reality, that list proved useless. Because, in the words of planners, merely identifying locations is not enough—effective measures must be taken there before the monsoon. Since that was not done, almost all of Dhaka sank again this year in just a few hours of rain. The accounts of thousands of crores of taka thus remain on paper. In reality, the city hasn't changed; only the budget figures have.