Reza Mahmud :
All the drains’ management will be given to a single authority in order to end confusion and fiasco between the departments and divisions and to remove water loggings from the city.
The length of the drains in the city is 2,400 km, of them 2,000 kilometers in two city corporations. While remains 400 kilometers are under Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (DWASA).
Sources said, the six departments, i.e two city corporations, DWASA, Water Development Board, Cantonment Board and Rajdhani Unnayan Kartipakkha (RAJUK) have responsibilities of maintaining the city’s drainage systems.
In recent years, water loggings are seen with every rainfall due to the defective drainage systems in the city.
After every rainfall, the corporations blame each other for public sufferings.
In this circumstances, the Ministry of the Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives has formed a committee to search for the cause of the water loggings.
Nasreen Akter, the Additional Secretary of the Ministry has been made the head of the nine members committee.
Four of them are Khan Mohammad Bilal, the Chief Executive Officer of DSCC, Mesbahul Islam, the Chief Executive Officer of DNCC, Engineer Taqsem A Khan, the Managing Director of DWASA and Mahbub Hossain, the Additional Secretary of the Ministry.
The committee has been directed to submit its reports with recommendations in this regard within one month. But the time has expired recently.
One of the members of the committee said preferring anonymity, “It is a complex subject. So, the committee has not been able to submit its report in time. It is working first to draw a conclusion.”
He also said that all of the drains might be put under the charge of a single authority like DWASA and City Corporation soon to avoid all kinds of complexities and blame games in this regards.
When contacted, Mesbahul Islam, the CEO of DNCC told The New Nation on Wednesday, “To remove water loggings from the city immediately, the committee firstly recommended to handover total liabilities of drainage management to the DWASA soon. But it was not the final decision. It was just the beginning of solving the problems atleast temporarily. The final recommendations will be given soon.”
Official sources said, the total drainage management system may go under DSCC and DNCC.
The final decisions will be clear by December.
Faraji Shahabuddin Ahmed, the Chief Engineer of DSCC said, “A committee is working to say who will get the charge of the drains. The law in this regard will be amended as per the recommendations of the committee.”
Khan Mohammad Bilal, the CEO of DSCC and Engineer Taqsem A Khan, the Managing Director of DWASA were not available on phones despites efforts several times.
