DND area: 2m people live with water

Rains have become a perpetual problem for over two million people living inside the DND (Dhaka-Narayanganj-Demra) project area on the southern edge of the capital.

Large areas of the once irrigation project turned into residential, commercial and industrial plots, go under water almost every monsoon, pushing the residents towards untold sufferings as rains turn into sorrow for them.
The unplanned housing and establishment made an adverse impact on the existing drainage system of 10,000 hectares of land inside the DND area, which triggers water-logging even with a little rain.

The DND project primarily had a drainage system for paddy but it has now turned into a town 10 to 15 feet below the flood level during the rainy season and fails to pump out rain water immediately.
“It takes at least two weeks to pump out the waterlogged area for about 15 days if it pours for an hour,” said a high official of Bangladesh Water Development Board.

Data shows the DND project was implemented during 1962-68 at a cost of Tk 233 lakh under Flood Control Drainage and Irrigation (FCDI) project primarily to protect Dhaka and Narayanganj towns from major flood events and to accumulate inner croplands from overflowing rivers.

It was then turned into an exclusive irrigation project aimed at achieving self-reliance in food grains production. But the area continued to develop as an unplanned residential area after the independence of the country with lower middle income people buying land and building homes haphazardly.

Now it has changed from agro-rural to agro-urban area. Urbanisation process is randomly progressing without any urban planning. Areas devoted to agriculture and water bodies are continuously engulfed by urbanisation. Demra, Shympur, Kutubpur, Matuail, Siddhirganj, Godnail, Madaninagar, Bhuigar and Fatulla etc of DND are approaching to an urban area at a very fast rate.

According to experts and locals, the development gained momentum after the 1988 and 1998 major flood events which welcome more people inside of dam projected area since it was free from floods. As a result most of the agricultural land was transformed into residential, commercial and industrial zone without any plan.
The experts also hold canal encroachment as one of the main reasons for water logging due to rains.

Prof Dr Sarwar Jahan, a teacher of Department of Urban and Regional Planning of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) termed the water logging in DND area a deep-rooted problem and suggested for form a task force to take a coordinated effort to resolve the problem.

“A network of canals should be created by recovering canals, which are already encroached, and others field up with garbage and sands should be dug out to ensure flow of rain water to pump out,” he said.
The city planner also suggested for increasing the number of pump stations and creating awareness among the inhabitants of the DND area about protecting the canals and maintenance of drains.

“A multidimensional and coordinated programme should be taken to overcome the situation,” he observed.

Golam Sarwar, executive engineer of Dhaka Mechanical Pump House Division, said there is only a pump house at Shimrail with four main pumps with capacity of 128 cusec each.

“The pumps, set up for irrigation projects, are 50 to 60 years old and their total capacity of pumping water reduced by half in the meantime. Besides, there are some 22 small power pumps with a total capacity of 100 cusec water,” he said adding, “We need more four pump stations to pump out the rain water from the DND area.”

He regretted that the flow of rain water cannot reach in front of the pump station as most of the canals have already been encroached and piled up with garbage.
Sarwar admitted that over two million people are living an inhuman life due to water logging in the DND area for three to four months.

Rezaul Mostafa Ashafuddula, executive engineer of Dhaka-1 zone of BWDB, said the project was taken to facilitate irrigation but unplanned urbanisation created the problems.

He said there is no waste management inside the DND area where about 500 metric tones of wastage is produced a day and there is no earmarked area to dispose off the garbage.

“People are frequently throwing garbage and household wastage in the canals hampering their flows. We cannot clean the canal as we are not supposed to do it,” he said.  

Ashafuddula said the BWDB repeatedly requested Dhaka City Corporation and Narayanganj pourasabha to take over the responsibility of the DND project area but they denied.

“Now we are preparing a revised DPP to remove water logging and waste management in the DND area,” he said.

He emphasised the need for taking a coordinated effort to deal with the situation and said the BWDB has no total mandate to do it alone.

“There is a strained relationship among the respective departments, leaving 2000,000 people to suffer immensely,” he said.
 
The BWDB official also put emphasis on recovering the canals from encroachment and creating public awareness.

Mohammed Noor Hossain, councillor of ward no 52 (East Jurain) under Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC), said at the early stage rain water flowed through Titas and Shympur canals and paddy fields but it is being hampered with increase of homes and industries many folds in the DND area.

He said the BWDB should set up more five to six pump stations at different strategic points including Shympur, Pagla, Fatulla and to pump out the rain water.

Noor Hossain, who is also president of ward Awami League, said roads in the DND area should be levelled to avoid water logging in low-lying areas.

Abdul Hannan Chowdhury, an educationist, said the entire region looks set to suffer from water logging despite the government takes some emergency measures including excavation and cleaning of canals in the DND area from time to time. “But we are yet to get any benefit of the attempts,” he said.

Chowdhury said people of DND area particularly students, service holders and day labourers are facing immense suffering due to water logging in the area.

Babul Sheikh, a businessman living Mijmiji in Sanairpar, said they have to walk through knee-deep polluted water to catch a bus from Sanaiparh.

“We are also facing mosquito menace and different water born diseases due to water logging,” he said.

Mahfuza Sultana, a service holder living in commissioner road in East Jurain, said she has to pay much more money than she spends other days to reach Jurain rail gate.

She said the government should take effective measures to resolve the problems permanently.

Shahin Ahmed, a businessman living at East Jurain, said he used to go out by a motorcycle but cannot use it after raining.

Sadia Islam Raka, a class five student of Northern University Laboratory School and College, said she cannot go to school if there is a heavy rain.

“There is water logging in front of my home at North Kutubkhali and also in front of my school at Chantek. How it possible to attend school by walking through dirty water?,” she questioned.

The whole DND area is bounded by road cum embankments and floodwalls. The major project components were 31.25km (now 31.00km) road-cum-flood control embankment, 55.20km irrigation canal, 45.40km drainage canal, 1km intake canal, 216 numbers water control structures and one pump station at Shimrail with 4 pumps (14.52 cusec capacity).

DND area: 2m people live with water

Rains have become a perpetual problem for over two million people living inside the DND (Dhaka-Narayanganj-Demra) project area on the southern edge of the capital. Large areas of the once irrigation project turned into residential, commercial and industrial plots, go under water almost every monsoon, pushing the residents towards untold sufferings as rains turn into sorrow for them. The unplanned housing and establishment made an adverse impact on the existing drainage system of 10,000 hectares of land inside the DND area, which triggers water-logging even with a little rain. The DND project primarily had a drainage system for paddy but it has now turned into a town 10 to 15 feet below the flood level during the rainy season and fails to pump out rain water immediately. It takes at least two weeks to pump out the waterlogged area for about 15 days if it pours for an hour, said a high official of Bangladesh Water Development Board. Data shows the DND project was implemented during 1962-68 at a cost of Tk 233 lakh under Flood Control Drainage and Irrigation (FCDI) project primarily to protect Dhaka and Narayanganj towns from major flood events and to accumulate inner croplands from overflowing rivers. It was then turned into an exclusive irrigation project aimed at achieving self-reliance in food grains production. But the area continued to develop as an unplanned residential area after the independence of the country with lower middle income people buying land and building homes haphazardly. Now it has changed from agro-rural to agro-urban area. Urbanisation process is randomly progressing without any urban planning. Areas devoted to agriculture and water bodies are continuously engulfed by urbanisation. Demra, Shympur, Kutubpur, Matuail, Siddhirganj, Godnail, Madaninagar, Bhuigar and Fatulla etc of DND are approaching to an urban area at a very fast rate. According to experts and locals, the development gained momentum after the 1988 and 1998 major flood events which welcome more people inside of dam projected area since it was free from floods. As a result most of the agricultural land was transformed into residential, commercial and industrial zone without any plan. The experts also hold canal encroachment as one of the main reasons for water logging due to rains. Prof Dr Sarwar Jahan, a teacher of Department of Urban and Regional Planning of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) termed the water logging in DND area a deep-rooted problem and suggested for form a task force to take a coordinated effort to resolve the problem. A network of canals should be created by recovering canals, which are already encroached, and others field up with garbage and sands should be dug out to ensure flow of rain water to pump out, he said. The city planner also suggested for increasing the number of pump stations and creating awareness among the inhabitants of the DND area about protecting the canals and maintenance of drains. A multidimensional and coordinated programme should be taken to overcome the situation, he observed. Golam Sarwar, executive engineer of Dhaka Mechanical Pump House Division, said there is only a pump house at Shimrail with four main pumps with capacity of 128 cusec each. The pumps, set up for irrigation projects, are 50 to 60 years old and their total capacity of pumping water reduced by half in the meantime. Besides, there are some 22 small power pumps with a total capacity of 100 cusec water, he said adding, We need more four pump stations to pump out the rain water from the DND area. He regretted that the flow of rain water cannot reach in front of the pump station as most of the canals have already been encroached and piled up with garbage. Sarwar admitted that over two million people are living an inhuman life due to water logging in the DND area for three to four months. Rezaul Mostafa Ashafuddula, executive engineer of Dhaka-1 zone of BWDB, said the project was taken to facilitate irrigation but unplanned urbanisation created the problems. He said there is no waste management inside the DND area where about 500 metric tones of wastage is produced a day and there is no earmarked area to dispose off the garbage. People are frequently throwing garbage and household wastage in the canals hampering their flows. We cannot clean the canal as we are not supposed to do it, he said. Ashafuddula said the BWDB repeatedly requested Dhaka City Corporation and Narayanganj pourasabha to take over the responsibility of the DND project area but they denied. Now we are preparing a revised DPP to remove water logging and waste management in the DND area, he said. He emphasised the need for taking a coordinated effort to deal with the situation and said the BWDB has no total mandate to do it alone. There is a strained relationship among the respective departments, leaving 2000,000 people to suffer immensely, he said. The BWDB official also put emphasis on recovering the canals from encroachment and creating public awareness. Mohammed Noor Hossain, councillor of ward no 52 (East Jurain) under Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC), said at the early stage rain water flowed through Titas and Shympur canals and paddy fields but it is being hampered with increase of homes and industries many folds in the DND area. He said the BWDB should set up more five to six pump stations at different strategic points including Shympur, Pagla, Fatulla and to pump out the rain water. Noor Hossain, who is also president of ward Awami League, said roads in the DND area should be levelled to avoid water logging in low-lying areas. Abdul Hannan Chowdhury, an educationist, said the entire region looks set to suffer from water logging despite the government takes some emergency measures including excavation and cleaning of canals in the DND area from time to time. But we are yet to get any benefit of the attempts, he said. Chowdhury said people of DND area particularly students, service holders and day labourers are facing immense suffering due to water logging in the area. Babul Sheikh, a businessman living Mijmiji in Sanairpar, said they have to walk through knee-deep polluted water to catch a bus from Sanaiparh. We are also facing mosquito menace and different water born diseases due to water logging, he said. Mahfuza Sultana, a service holder living in commissioner road in East Jurain, said she has to pay much more money than she spends other days to reach Jurain rail gate. She said the government should take effective measures to resolve the problems permanently. Shahin Ahmed, a businessman living at East Jurain, said he used to go out by a motorcycle but cannot use it after raining. Sadia Islam Raka, a class five student of Northern University Laboratory School and College, said she cannot go to school if there is a heavy rain. There is water logging in front of my home at North Kutubkhali and also in front of my school at Chantek. How it possible to attend school by walking through dirty water?, she questioned. The whole DND area is bounded by road cum embankments and floodwalls. The major project components were 31.25km (now 31.00km) road-cum-flood control embankment, 55.20km irrigation canal, 45.40km drainage canal, 1km intake canal, 216 numbers water control structures and one pump station at Shimrail with 4 pumps (14.52 cusec capacity).