Waterlogging has become one of Dhaka City's most growing urban crises which reveal the failure of proper drainage management. Rapid and unplanned urbanization has led to the filling of canals and wetlands. The Drains also remain clogged with garbage and silt, while existing drainage systems are poorly maintained. For this reason, the streets flood, traffic is jammed, and life comes to a halt.
Being one of the densely populated cities in the world, Dhaka faces many challenges in managing urban services. Almost 90% of the drains are narrowed, blocked, and broken and water overflows on to roads rather than flowing out. Major zones such as Mirpur, Kazipara, Shantinagar, and Badda have standing water for hours, or even days, following rain. With no upgradation, the city's drainage system repeatedly fails because of seasonal load, and roads become flooded, infuriating the residents year after year.
Dhaka's unmanaged, accelerated urbanization has considerably upset the natural water drainage. Wetland and low-lying land development block rainwater drainage, causing recurrent flooding. Dhaka lost more than 70% of its wetlands and up to 60% of its vegetation cover during the past two decades. Natural water reservoirs have been replaced by buildings, roads, and illegal encroachment, channeling rainwater in search of an outlet. This record growth has reduced the city to a concrete bowl that neither retains nor drains rain.
Near 200 canals, lakes, and marshes which previously naturally drained rainwater, but less than 40 are now operational. Spurious development and landfilling have covered most water bodies, clogging or closing them totally. This has lowered the natural drainage capacity of the city, causing rain to cause water to stay on roads. Destruction of these crucial water bodies not only aggravates floods but also destabilizes the urban ecosystem, rendering the city more susceptible to waterlogging as well as environmental degradation.
There are some agencies who overlap in powers related to water and drainage, such as WASA, DNCC, DSCC, and RAJUK. Such overlapping powers lead to confusion and inefficiency. This confusion while coordinating gives rise to bureaucratic lag in development and maintenance activities. Agencies finger-point at one another, creating poor accountability and lagging response to flood issues. The fragmented system creates delays in immediate repair and upgrading of drains, and people are exposed to long-term waterlogging and poor flood controls.
Many flood-prone areas such as Shantinagar, Dhanmondi, and Mirpur lack or have non-functional pumping arrangements that lead to massive waterlogging during rain. Non-working or faulty pumps never maintained also do not clear excess water, and roads remain wet for days. Lack of Adequate, cutting-edge water management equipment aggravates the situation, especially in lowland areas. Without spending on pump infrastructure with higher capacity, the areas are threatened by recurrent flooding, which hinders normal operations and increases the health and economic risk of inhabitants.
Waterlogging is extremely detrimental to daily life by creating traffic jams and hindering smooth flow of traffic for all vehicles in the whole city. The citizens are deprived of accessing schools, offices, and public facilities as roads are filled with water, leading to tardiness and low productivity. Emergency response is affected as ambulances and fire trucks cannot move on flooded roads. These interruptions cascade to the general economy through increased travel time and operational expense, public safety, and residents' health in affected areas.
Dhaka's growing waterlogging crisis serves as a sobering reminder of the results of inadequate drainage management, uncontrolled urbanization, and ineffective governance. The city will continue to drown even after mild rain unless drains are updated, institutional cooperation is guaranteed, and canals and wetlands are restored. It is essential for not only flood mitigation but also for public health, infrastructure, and the daily lives of millions of people, a sustainable, long-term drainage plan is required.
The writer is an LLB student, Department of Law, World University of Bangladesh
