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Where will the canal water go?

NAZRUL ISIAM
THE water-logging caused by the rainfall on July 27-28 led many to search for Dhaka city's lost canals. According to historical sources, there were more than forty canals crisscrossing the area that is now Dhaka city, connecting the land with the rivers and even rivers on the east w ith rivers on the west. In addition, there were hundreds of ponds, lakes, jheels, and other water retention bodies. Thus rainwater could quickly drain off to the rivers and the ri ver water could spread over wider areas so that depth of flooding would remain low. In addition, all inland water bodies would get recharged by fresh water (not polluted yet!) every year, instead of turning into pools of stagnant, filthy water.
That was, however, then. Now we have constructed a city by filling up most of the water bodies, including the canals (khals). There have been some attempts in recent years to recover some of the khals that still exist, though severely encroached upon. However, many more khals have been simply built over. According to press reports, the prime minister herself has instructed relevant authorities to restore the lost khals. There is no doubt that khals are vital for Dhaka to survive in the long run, particularly because of climate change.
However, recognition of the necessity
of the canals is only half the solution of the problem, because it does not answer the question: Where will the canal water go? In the natural order of things, khals would meet the rivers. Unfortunately, ever since the Krug Commission in 1955, the country has been following the erroneous Cordon Approach, according to which floodplains are to be sealed off from the neighbouring rivers through cordon-like unbroken, solid, embankments.
The Dhaka-Narayanganj Demra (DND) project is (he classic example of this approach, whereby the project area has been sealed off from the Buriganga and Sitalakyha rivers. Similarly, following the 1988 flood, the Greater Dhaka Western Embankment was constructed, sealing off the city' from the Buriganga and Turag rivers on the west. There is the plan to construct an eastern bypass in the form of a cordon to similarly seal off Dhaka from the Balu and Sitalakyha rivers on the east.
Apparently, these cordon-like embankments are necessary to protect Dhaka from flooding caused by river water. Unfortunately, what the cordon promoters forget is that rainfall occurs inside the city too, and this rainwater needs to pass on to the rivers. In other words, water flows both ways. If we put up cordons to obstruct river water reaching the city, we also obstruct rainwater of the city from reaching the river! And while serious flooding caused by river water is an infrequent event, occurring every, say, 10 or 20 years, rainfall within the city is a perennial phenomenon.
A die-hard cordon advocate may say that pumping out rainwater from inside the cordon into the rivers outside is the solution. Unfortunately, even the mighty US found it difficult to pump out the Katerina water from inside the New Orleans levees into Lake Pontchartrain. Bangladesh has a hard time every year pumping water out of the DND project area. Pumping, therefore, is not a viable proposition for Bangladesh, on both technical and economic grounds.
Moreover, cordon -plus-pumping would deprive the city from numerous benefits that preservation of links with the rivers can render, such as recharge of surface water bodies, use of canals as alternative means of transportation, moderation of temperature due to presence of water bodies, improved air quality due to presence of moisture in the air, fishing, not to speak of the recreational and aesthetic value of healthy water bodies inside the city.
Hence, the only solution to the conundrum lies in the abandonment of the Cordon Approach and adoption of the Open Approach to rivers. The process of sealing off the city from her rivers has to be reversed. The canals have to be allowed to meet the rivers. The already constructed western embankment has to be transformed from a cordon into an embankment with sluice gates for canal water to pass and also for river water to enter up to the acceptable limit.
Similarly, the eastern bypass should not be constructed as a cordon. Instead, it should be constructed with adequate passages left for water to pass between the city and the river. Embankments with adequate sluice gates can provide a
way of retaining monsoon water in the city's canals for the dry months. The possibility of the eastern bypass being constructed in the form of an elevated road may also be explored. Comprehensive cost-benefit analysis may actually show the latter to be (he better option.
There are some people who think that cordons arc needed for urbanisation and that the Open Approach will obstruct it. In fact, cordons lead to a wrong kind of urbanisation by encouraging below-flood-level settlement that ultimately makes people more vulnerable to inundation from either rainfall inside or from any accidental breach in the cordons or overflow of river water from outside.
The experience of DND makes these effects clear. The cordons of this project have led to below-flood-level settlement, and during each rainy season the army needs to be called up to protect the cordons from breaching so as to save the houses inside the project from getting submerged! The cordon approach will lead to a replication of the same perilous situation in Dhaka city, only on a grander scale. By contrast, the Open Approach will lead to safer and sustainable urbanisation, because people will be aware of the flood level and thereby be forced to follow the time tested "dig-elevate-dwell" rule of settlement in floodplains ofadelta.
Thus, it is good that the July 28 deluge has sensitised policymakers and the people about the role of canals in draining off rainwater. However, it is necessary to ask the next question: Where will the canal water go? The answer to this question is that canal water has to reach the rivers, and for that the city has to open up to the rivers, for both rainwater to drain and for river water to come in and perform its annual cleansing, recharging, and other vital roles.
Those who have visited Amsterdam have seen how this great city has preserved and fruitfully used its links with the Rhine river, so that canals are an important alternative mode of transportation of this city. Dhaka, being the capital of a deltaic country, can also set an example of harmonious relationship with her rivers. Instead of treating rivers as enemies from which the city has to be fortressed through cordons, the city needs to embrace the rivers, which gave birth to it.
The Cordon Approach has harmed not only Dhaka city but also the whole country. It is now time to rectify this. According to press reports, the government plans to undertake a Tk.30,000
crore project to rejuvenate the rivers, using the money that it hopes to receive as climate change-related assistance from developed countries. It is a good idea. However, this project needs to be formulated on the basis of the Open Approach and not the counterproductive Cordon Approach.
The current government came to power with the promise of "Change." A change from the Cordon Approach to the Open Approach would be a befitting example of implementation of that promise. Dr Nazrul Islam is former professor of economics, Dhaka University, and also the Central Coordinator, Bangladesh Environment Network (BEN) and Vice-President, Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA). E-mail. s_n_isiam@yahoo com