The two city corporations in the capital have “spent” several thousand crores of taka in the last few years for the “development” of Dhaka’s road infrastructure and drainage system, yet many areas in the city go under water after only after hours of rainfall.
The torrential monsoon rain from Sunday midnight to Monday morning inundated many parts of the capital, disrupting people’s movement and triggering traffic chaos.
In some areas, the water level even rose to waist height.
In the last four years, Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) spent over Tk 2,000 crore for the “development” of road infrastructure and drainage but there has been no visible sign of improvement when it comes to water-logging.
“They make the budget for their own benefits. Not for us, not for public interest,” said Habibullah Manik, a resident of Shantinagar area.
But these areas, including Razarbag, Kakrail, Malibag, Mouchak, Mogbazar, Karwanbazar, Tejkunipara and Greenroad, were reportedly submerged by the rainwater.
Meanwhile, DNCC allocated about Tk 1025.86 crore in last fiscal year for the “development” of road infrastructure and drainage.
Sulaiman Hossain, a bus driver of Shikhor Paribahan, yesterday told this correspondent that he found roads in Greenroad, Karwanbazar, Shewrapar, Kazipara, Agargaon were inundated.
“Water level was so high in the morning that we had to drive slow which created a long tailback,” he said.
Manager of an IT firm Shourav Rahman said, “It took me about 45 minutes to cross about 1.5 kilometer,” he said.
The Daily Star yesterday tried several times to contact the two mayors for their comments on Dhaka’s waterlogging, but to no avail.
According to the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, 63mm of rainfall was recorded in the capital from 6:00am to 9:00am yesterday.
Besides, 19mm of rain was recorded in the previous 24 hours, reports UNB.
