The canals and drains of the port city of Chattogram have become death traps. Owing to negligence of authorities concerned, most of these canals and drains don’t have retaining walls or to protect slabs, posing risks of fatal accidents. Moreover, most of the canals and drains are filled with plastic wastes, as they’re not cleaned regularly. This is why when someone falls into those, it’s extremely difficult to swim ashore, or for rescuers to come and save a victim. All of this results in an alarming frequency of fatal accidents. Rivalries over authority and power between City Corporation and Chattogram Development Authority have put public services in disarray. Fire service officials say a thick layer of plastic and other wastes that fill up the drains make rescue operations difficult.
As the city’s canals are not cleaned regularly, they have become a safe haven for mosquitoes to breed. Nobody is ready to take responsibility for deaths in the drains or canals. The city authorities are yet to cover these drains, suggesting the successive deaths of the innocents are not enough to stir the conscience of the port city’s guardians. Most canals of the city are not covered as CDA has taken a TK 50 billion project to expand them in order to mitigate waterlogging. There is a 946-kilometre stretch of drains in the city, but there is no information on how many of them are covered with slabs. The total length of the city’s 57 canals is 161km, but there is no safety fencing along them.
The government and the people must take the CDA and CCC authorities to the dock for their mismanagement and public sufferings. Deaths of people by falling into canals are due to sheer negligence of the authorities. The families of victims should get compensation from the responsible agencies. The responsibility for negligence of those running CDA and CCC in ensuring safety of people should be identified for taking punitive action. Nobody wishes to see the recurrence of such unfortunate deaths.
