Cutting off Dhaka's lifeline

Gopal Chandra Das, a septuagenarian inhabitant of Dhaka's Azimpur area, is a living witness to Dhaka's massive transformation: from a serene, clean city with picturesque waterfronts to a congested, concrete jungle. He shares how his life was intertwined with the many lakes and canals that once crisscrossed through the city. “I used to start my day by having a walk along Dholai Khal (Dholai canal, the lower course of Balu River), which used to flow through the present Nilkhet area. The place, where you see the huge bazaar of old books and bedding accessories, was, in the 60s, the bank of a canal.”

It would be a cruel joke to search for any trace of Dholai Khal in present day Nilkhet, adds Gopal ruefully.

In fact, the network of 53 canals of Dhaka that once ran through the city and functioned as its water extraction and flood control system is now almost dead. A few of the surviving lakes and canals are also on the verge of extinction due to continuous encroachment, from a total lack of monitoring and maintenance. According to a study by Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies, 84 percent of wetlands and water bodies in and around Dhaka have disappeared since 1947.

How these canals have vanished over time can be understood by observing the miserable situation of Hazaribagh canal. The government city map says that the Hazaribagh canal is three kilometres long and six to eight metre wide. In reality, however, the canal—which once linked the Buriganga River with the southern part of Dhaka city and was a busy trade route—is now no more than a narrow sewerage line. Local inhabitants have filled up the canal and constructed buildings and roads indiscriminately. The remaining, shrinking stream of the canal can be found inside a slum which is also about to be filled up with tonnes of garbage dumped on it every day.

This process of encroachment of water bodies is being replicated in every part of the city. As water resource and climate change expert Dr Ainun Nishat argues, “How can these water bodies survive if the sewage lines of all the surrounding buildings drain hundreds of tonnes of filth into them every day? Unplanned urbanisation is the main reason behind the destruction of these lifelines of Dhaka.”

Even the Hatirjheel-Begunbari project, which was one of Bangladesh's biggest water body restoration projects, has failed to preserve the water quality of two of the vital water bodies of the city. Untreated sewage water from all around the city is being poured into these lakes and their unbearable stink is adversely affecting the local population.

According to Natural Water Reservoir Conservation Act, 2000, all the canals and natural lakes of Dhaka have to be preserved by the state. However, no sustainable steps have been taken over the years to preserve and maintain these water bodies. Mohammed Kamrul Islam Chowdury, Chief Estate Officer, Dhaka South City Corporation says, “We are unable to restore these water bodies as many of these lakes and canals are the property of different government organisations. Some parts of these water bodies have also been claimed by different individuals.  Several cases on these issues are yet to be solved by the court.”

On the other hand, Md Salah Uddin, Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka, argues that one of the main problems of restoring these water bodies is to determine their original boundaries. He says, “We have discussed this issue with different government organisations as different government organisations own different water bodies. We have agreed to form a joint task force soon to determine the boundary of the canals, which will be the first step for sustainable restoration.”

Meanwhile, the government has consistently been unsuccessful in reclaiming the encroached areas of the water bodies, failing to counter the vehement protest organised by the local political leaders during its previous drives. Dr Nishat says in this regard, “Mostly the local political leaders fill up the lakes and canals to construct buildings and slums. They have the muscle power and in most cases, the law enforcing agencies succumb to their muscle power by allowing them to continue with their land grabbing.”

“In fact, when the Supreme Court ordered to determine the boundary of Buriganga and Turag River, the law enforcing agencies established the pillars in places which were recommended by the local political leaders,” adds Dr Nishat. 

In fact, in Dhaka's Hazaribagh area, an entire street has been built filling up a large section of the Hazaribagh canal and the local administration, instead of resisting it, has accepted this illegal act by naming the street as 'Bahadur Bepari Ghat Street'.          

In the absence of political goodwill of the authorities to protect Dhaka's water bodies, millions of Dhakaites have been suffering from severe water scarcity in the blistering summer heat, and devastating floods and water logging in the monsoon. Dr M A Matin, professor, Department of Water Resource Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, says, “Dhaka's canals which were linked to different rivers used to drain the rain water during monsoon and the lakes, wetlands and canals used to recharge the ground water. Also, the vegetation growing around the water bodies help to keep the city clean and cool.”

He argues that to restore these water bodies, it is necessary to determine the original area of the lakes and canals and make it free of human intervention.

These crises, created by the filling up and pollution of the city's lakes and canals, have made Dhaka one of the worst cities to live in this world. And, septuagenarian Gopal, who once upon a time walked along the serene banks of the Dhaka's waterfronts, is a sad witness of this depressing transformation; now in every summer, he has to stand in a long queue to buy some gallons of drinkable water from a water supply truck.

The writer can be contacted at shahnawaz.khan@thedailystar.net