Floods have left several pockets inside the city stagnant with sewage, exposing thousands to health hazards.

Although water level in the rivers surrounding the capital is fast receding, stagnant water in these pockets show no signs of improvement. Some of the densely populated areas such as Kanthalbagan, Rayerbazar, Hazaribagh, Bashbari, Gopi-bagh and Gulshan are the worst affected, reeking of human excreta.

Along the Free School Street,

sewage has inundated the ground floors of many houses. Residents And the area is no longer fit for human habitation. Incidences of dengue fever and waterborne diseases are high and they blame leaky Water and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) pipelines for the outbreaks of typhoid and diarrhoea.

Officials of Wasa's Drainage Circle now blame unplanned urbanisation for water logging in the city.

They said the pumps set at Kalyanpur, Dholaikhal and Goranchandbari can pump out 53 cubic metres of water a sec-

ond, but these are unable to function fully as the canals and drainage system have been illegally occupied and blocked.

"Water from Rayerbazar can no longer travel to Kalyanpur due to encroachment along the canals and drains. Similar encroachments in other parts of the city are preventing water from running down to the retention points," said a Wasa engineer.

Wiiter level in the Kanthalbagan storm sewerage has not receded and officials believe the system is clogged with rubbish.

"The Dhaka City Corpora-

tion's conservancy department could not clean rubbish for over a month because of the rise in water level. Residents of the inundated areas had to dump waste in the water, which may have stanched the drainage system," said a Wasa expert.

Although Wasa and the Water Development Board have jointly set up about 100 small pumps in Rampura, Lalbagh and Manik-nagar to remove the stagnant water over the embankment, the process has limited effects.