& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Clogged drains, rain-reeling city

If rubbish is constantly cleared off streets, catch pits will be open for easy flow of rainwater, clearing way for vehicles and pedestrians

CITY CORRESPONDENT
The capital came to a virtual standstill last Wednesday, when hundreds of vehicles got stuck in up to three feet of water as nearly 51mm of rain pelted down in just two hours.
Sources in the Drainage circle of Dhaka Water and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) said waterlogging on a massive scale is the result of the clogging of many drains and other outlets with rubbish littered all around and rapidly disappearing canals.
According to a Wasa drainage expert the entire 260-kilometre network of storm sewers in the city is in real danger due to mindless dumping of rubbish and neglect by cleaners of Dhaka City Corporation (DCC).
Wasa recently requested the government to act to save the existing canals from further encroachment. Failure to do so, authorities fear, will paralyse the city for days in the future.
Realising the danger it faces, the government in a rare move has sanctioned Tk 1.6 crore to clean up the age-old drainage system. But Wasa sources said they need funds round the year to keep waterlogging at bay.
The expert also said that although Wednesday's waterlogging did not last long, the situation may not remain the same during floods.
"As soon as water levels in the rivers around the city rise we should shut down all the sluice gates on the flood protection embankment," he added.
"With the sluice gates closed, the water inside the city areas will take much longer to clear. The major problem is the amount of solid rubbish dumped inside the storm sew-
ers," he said. Whenever the DCC street cleaners sweep the streets, they dump all the rubbish into the drains through the 'catch pits'. In the process the catch pits get blocked
and the rainwater has no opening to flow into the drains.
"When we recently cleaned a drain in the old part of the city we found tonnes of discarded plastic, rubber,
bottles; even mattresses and pillows," a Wasa official said.
Wasa now fears that it will not be long before water-logging becomes a permanent feature of city life in much the same way all low lying areas are affected after a brief shower.