Despite a staggering Tk3,000 crore poured into tackling Dhaka’s chronic waterlogging over the past decade, the capital still goes completely underwater like clockwork at the first heavy rain.
Every monsoon season tells the same grim story of flooded roads, submerged neighbourhoods and paralysed transport, leaving residents stranded and raising serious questions about the effectiveness of these costly initiatives.
Despite boasting significant manpower and massive financial backing, Dhaka’s two city corporations have utterly failed to turn the tide due to poor planning, decaying infrastructure and a blatant lack of coordination.
The buck was passed, but the water stayed put.
In 2020, Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) took over the city’s canals and drainage systems from WASA.
Between 2020 and 2024 alone, they spent an eye-watering Tk730 crore, with DSCC spending around Tk360 crore and DNCC approximately Tk370 crore.
Ultimately, this massive fortune went straight down the drains.
Urban planner Adil Muhammad Khan emphasises that this persistent crisis stems from structural failures: faulty planning, a drainage network 25 to 30 years outdated, inadequate outlets, widespread use of banned polythene bags and the complete absence of an integrated master plan.
“Because of these structural deficiencies, thousands of crores of taka are being wasted under different city corporation projects,” he told TIMES of Bangladesh.
“Even after canals and drains came under city corporation management, no modern and comprehensive drainage master plan has been prepared or updated. Implementing one project after another without an integrated plan cannot produce the desired results and only increases the waste of public funds,” he added.
Massive spending, limited results
A review of city corporation initiatives reveals a grim reality: massive funds are channelled into maintenance and new projects, yet Dhaka’s waterlogged nightmare remains stubbornly unchanged.
The financial haemorrhage is constant. DSCC Chief Waste Management Officer Air Commodore Mahbubur Rahman Talukdar revealed the corporation spends around Tk30 crore annually just on routine maintenance, including cleaning clogged drains and canals.
Yet, grand promises keep coming. At a recent public hearing at the Russian Cultural Centre near Dhanmondi Lake, Road Transport Minister Shaikh Robiul Islam announced a massive new Tk350 crore project aimed at tackling waterlogging in several parts of the city. Confirming the initiative, he vowed it would provide a long-term solution for the routinely flooded New Market, Gausia and Dhanmondi areas.
“As part of the project, a new drainage outlet will be constructed from Dhanmondi through the BDR area to the Old Buriganga River,” he said.
Meanwhile, the true cost remains obscured in bureaucracy.
DNCC Chief Waste Management Officer Commodore Mohammad Humayun Kabir was unable to provide a consolidated figure for total spending this year, explaining that multiple overlapping departments make it impossible to determine overall expenditure before all costs are compiled.
Three outlets for 109 sq km
One of the biggest challenges facing DSCC is a crippling shortage of drainage outlets. The corporation oversees a vast 109 square kilometres, yet the entire southern part of Dhaka depends on just three major routes: Dholai Khal, the Kamalapur–TT Para area and Hatirjheel via the Panthapath box culvert. Talukdar emphasised that at least eight to nine outlets are urgently needed.
“The existing drainage system is 25 to 30 years old and was not designed to cope with current urban realities,” he said, noting that the Institute of Water Modelling is conducting feasibility studies for new locations.
This severe bottleneck means even moderate rainfall triggers severe flooding in Shukrabad and Dhanmondi Road 27. Torrents from higher ground, including West Rajabazar, Sobhanbagh and the Parliament complex, cascade into low-lying neighbourhoods.
Strikingly, water even erupts backwards through manholes because the drainage system cannot cope with the volume.
In response, DNCC has mapped flood-prone hotspots using Geographic Information System (GIS), deploying 20 quick-response teams of 360 workers.
Drainage and box-culvert rehabilitation projects are underway in critical areas, including Mirpur-1 Darussalam Road, Paris Road, Kazipara, Kalshi, Nakhalpara and parts of Uttara.
Meanwhile, DSCC has identified 33 vulnerable hotspots, including Green Road, New Market, NAEM Lane between Dhaka College and Government Laboratory School, Malibagh, Shantinagar, Khilgaon, Paltan, Shapla Chattar, Palashi, Mugda Medical College Hospital, Maniknagar TT Para and Old Dhaka. The corporation has stationed ten-member teams in every ward and expanded its portable pumping capacity from six to ten pumps.
The DSCC administrator has also launched a clearing operation along a 2.85-kilometre box culvert from Shilpakala Academy to the TT Para pumping station, promising a modern drainage system across Regions 1 to 5.
Around 20 per cent of development work on the Manda, Jirani, Shyampur and Kalunagar canals is already complete, while DNCC races to build new catch pits, pipe drains and master drainage lines to restore water flow.
Polythene, the silent enemy
Officials and experts alike identify polythene waste as one of the main saboteurs of Dhaka’s drainage network.
Although plastic bags thinner than 20 microns were banned on 1 January 2002, their use remains rampant.
From Karwan Bazar to Sutrapur, drains choked with discarded polythene are a grimly familiar sight.
The scale of the battle is immense. During the 2024–25 fiscal year, DNCC cleared approximately 221.85 kilometres of storm-water drains and 1.547 kilometres of box culverts. Using modern jet-and-suction machines, the corporation dredged massive volumes of polythene from the Katasur, Mohakhali, Kalshi and Rupnagar canals.
This endless choking effect was highlighted as early as 2005 in a study titled Impact of Banning Polythene Bags on Floods of Dhaka City by Applying CVM and Remote Sensing, which showed that polythene waste is a key cause of blocked underground pipes and urban flooding.
In a bid to heal the city, DNCC and DSCC jointly launched the ambitious “Blue Network” programme in February 2025 to rehabilitate 19 canals.
However, inspections of the initial six targeted channels revealed they were heavily clogged with plastic waste.
Four canals under DNCC—Baunia, Karail, Rupnagar and Begunbari—and two under DSCC—Manda and Kalunagar—are critical drainage lifelines during heavy rainfall.
Yet TIMES observations confirmed that polythene accumulation remains the principal obstruction to water flow.
Urban planner Adil noted that just one hour of moderate rain routinely leaves Mirpur, Jatrabari and Mohammadpur under waist-deep water.
“There are laws, bans and enforcement drives. But there is no effective coordination. As a result, banned polythene continues to be sold and used openly,” he said, adding that simply deploying more cleaners is a stopgap solution.
“The use of polythene must be stopped at its source. We banned polythene, but we failed to provide people with an affordable alternative.”
