The government has finally decided to undertake a project to be implemented by a military firm to solve the problem of waterlogging in the Dhaka-Narayanganj-Demra (DND) dam area on the south-eastern side of Dhaka. The military firm, name of which is yet to be finalised, will implement the Tk 380.35-crore project under direct procurement method (DPM), said sources in the water resources ministry. The ministry has prepared a proposal in this regard. It will be placed at the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today, seeking its approval for giving the work order to a military firm as the contractor, the sources added. Senior secretary of the water resources ministry, Dr Zafar Ahmed Khan, told The Independent that they would issue a work order to a military firm after getting the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs. “The water resources ministry, the Narayanganj City Corporation, and the Dhaka South City Corporation will assist the contractor to implement the project successfully,” he said. According to the proposal, the contractor will build 13 pump stations, 24 pumping plants, 79 bridges or culverts, two cross drains, and 12 RCC guarder bridges. It will rebuild 52 bridges and culverts, re-excavate 94km canals, and develop the slope of the canals’ banks.
Water-logging is a regular feature in the DND area in the monsoon, making lives miserable for thousands of people. Roads and open spaces in areas inside the DND dam, including Matuail, Konapara Pora Dogair, Mogholpara, Rasulpur, Dholesshar, Adarshapara, Sarulia, Dogair, Deillah, Munsibagh, Baghmara, Boxonagar, Sarulia, Bahir Tengra, Kandapara, and Mredhabari, go under water. In some areas, waterlogging decreases in winter. There are about 31.162 km of canals in the DND area. These are now being filled up by dumping garbage. Fish farms have mushroomed in the area. At the same time, influential locals have over the years built unauthorised structures that block the natural flow of water, leading to water-logging. During 1962–68, the DND project phase-1 was executed as the Flood Control Drainage and Irrigation (FCDI) project, primarily to protect Dhaka and Narayanganj from floods, and to save croplands from overflowing rivers. After the project was completed, many lower-middle income people bought land and built homes haphazardly, transformed most of the agricultural plots into residential ones, and started small businesses without any plan.