City Reporter: In Chittagong metropolis one after another there are deaths due to falling into unprotected drains. This time a child died after falling into an open drain. Last Sunday, a one-and-a-half-year-old child named Yasin Arafat fell into a drain and went missing in Rangipara area of Halishahar police station in the city. After about 18 hours, the fire service recovered the body of the child from the drain in front of the house yesterday at 9 am. Due to this, three people including two children and a female student died in the drain this year. Earlier, on April 9, a three-year-old child, Ojaifa, fell into a river and died in Nalapara area of Sadarghat. Then on August 7, a student of Hathajari College named Nipa Palit fell into the drain and died.
Meanwhile, the CDA and the city corporation have been blaming each other for a long time to avoid responsibility for the city’s waterlogging. The Chittagong Development Authority (CDA) is implementing a mega project worth Tk 5,500 crore to alleviate waterlogging. Due to this, efforts are being made to place the entire responsibility of the flooding on the CDA.
CDA says the ongoing project is yet to be fully implemented. And besides, the total number of drains and canals in the city is 1,600 km, of which only 300 km have come under the flood control project. The maintenance of the remaining 1,300 km is the responsibility of the City Corporation. The CDA says that the waterlogging is not being resolved as the Chasiks are not performing their duties properly.
Meanwhile, a proposal by the CDA to extend the duration of the dewatering project has reportedly been sent to the ministry. In continuation of the last few years, this year too, the roads of the city have been seen to sink due to moderate rains. In this month of August, two rounds of flooding have occurred in the city. Roads become death traps during floods. Many roads in the city have unprotected canals and drains. During the rains, the canals and drains become one of the roads, creating a dangerous situation. Besides, many places have uncovered manholes on footpaths where accidental falls often lead to casualties. Pedestrians move in these areas with the risk of falling into the drain.
It is known that 10 people have died by falling into unprotected drains and canals in the last seven years while the Chittagong city’s flood relief project was in progress. Among them, maximum four people died in 2021. A man named Saleh Ahmed went missing after falling into a canal in Muradpur on August 25 that year. On December 7, a child named Kamal Uddin died after falling into a chasmakhal in Sholshahar area. His body was recovered three days after he went missing. Shehrin Mahmood Sadia, a student of computer science department of International Islamic University, died after falling into a drain at Agrabad intersection on September 27. On June 30, three auto-rickshaw riders went missing after falling into Chashmahal in Sholshahar. Later, the bodies of driver Sultan and passenger Khadija Begum were recovered. This year too, three people have died in the drain so far.
It cannot be understood separately whether roads or canals are entirely responsible for urban flooding. Due to which accidents often occur. The city’s main road, CDA Avenue, has unprotected canals covering a large area on both sides of the road from Sholashahar to Bahaddarhat. Apart from this, there are open drains along many roads including Mehdi Bagh Road, Sheikh Mujib Road in the city where accidents often occur.
According to City Corporation sources, the city has a total of 57 canals and 1,600 km of drains. Out of this, only 300 km are covered under the drainage de-watering scheme. Besides, another 100 km of drains are planned under the project. Chittagong City Corporation is responsible for monitoring the remaining 1,300 km of canals. But there are complaints that the city corporation does not properly clean the drains under their responsibility. Due to which water cannot move quickly during rains, waterlogging occurs in the city.
In this regard, Chief Engineer of Chittagong City Corporation Rafiqul Islam told the media that CDA is in charge of about 400 km of drains in the city. The drains outside of this do not have much effect on the runoff. However, the city corporation is regularly renovating them. He said that 5 thousand 527 dangerous places have been identified by surveying the dangerous sidewalks, canals and drains. We are working on them. Claiming that the city corporation is not responsible for the latest death of a child in the drain in Halishahr, engineer Rafiqul Islam said that the family had built a house in a very dangerous place next to the drain completely illegally.
