Khulna city’s Ahsan Ahmed road gets knee-deep with little rain. For this, new drains were constructed on both sides of the road at a cost of 4 crore 58 lakhs. The road was renovated at a cost of about two and a half crore rupees. However, the situation did not improve. When it rains, water accumulates on a part of the road as before. People are suffering due to this. Not only Ahsan Ahmed Road, Khulna City Corporation (KCC) has rebuilt 104 drains in the last six years under the drainage project. Seven canals including Mayur Nad are being re-excavated and 32 drains are being renovated. About 502 crore rupees have been spent on it. Despite this huge expenditure, the city’s waterlogging situation has not improved. Even if it rains a little more, the lower part of the city sinks. Water jams are forming on the main roads.
Amirul Azad, in-charge of Khulna Meteorological Office, said that 36 millimeters of rain was recorded in the city from 6 am to 12 pm on Thursday. This rain caused waterlogging in the lower areas including Ahsan Ahmed Road, Royal Mor, Dolkhola, Shantidham Mor, Khanjahan Ali Road, Baitipara, Bastuhara, Chanmari, Salachara, Tutpara, Mistripara. People have to bear unlimited suffering in movement. Earlier, 45 mm of rainfall was recorded in the city from 2.30 pm to 3 pm on July 2. Different roads and areas of the city were submerged in water that day as well.
KCC officials claim that when it rains during the tide, the water is temporarily blocked. It should be called waterlogging rather than waterlogging. As a result of the implementation of the reform project, this waterlogging has reduced by 60 percent. When all the works are completed, there will be no waterlogging in the city.
Khulna city’s long-standing problem of inundation of important roads including lower areas when it rains. The people of Khulna have been agitating for a long time to take permanent steps to resolve the waterlogging. For this reason, in 2013, KCC adopted a project called Urban Region Development. Under this project, numerous drains were constructed along with the digging of two rivers. Despite the expenditure of nearly hundreds of crores of rupees, the project could not eliminate the waterlogging. Due to which, before the 2018 elections, Mayor Talukder Abdul Khalek’s main promise was to alleviate waterlogging.
It is reported that on September 18, 2018, Ekne approved the project ‘Improvement of Drainage System (Phase I) to remove waterlogging in Khulna City’. Initially the cost of the project was 823 crore 79 lakh taka. The project was revised in 2023. Project cost reduced to 823 crore 76 lakh taka. The term is fixed till June 30, 2025. 177 works were supposed to be done in the project including construction of drains, digging of canals, construction of sluice gates, pump houses. Out of this, 104 drains and canals have been completed in the last six years. Rest of the work is in progress. KCC’s May report showed project progress at 82 percent. The cost is shown to be Rs. 502 crores.
According to the source, although the drains have been constructed, the work of digging the canals, the main channel of water, has not been completed yet. The construction of pump house for drainage of water during monsoon has not started.
Sheikh Mohammad Masud Karim, Executive Engineer of KCC and Director of Drainage System Development Project to eliminate waterlogging, said that the work of important drains has been completed in the last six years. Waterlogging has reduced to a great extent. Now some important drain work is going on. International tenders have been invited for the construction of pump stations and sluice gates. When these two works are completed, the city will not have water in the rain.
KCC Mayor Talukdar Abdul Khalek said that the city’s water fell into the Rupsa River. Rupsa’s bottom is raised. If it rains during high tide, the water cannot come out. For this, tenders have been invited for the construction of a sluice gate and pump station at Rupsa at a cost of about Tk 65 crore. Plans are underway to construct a pump station at Alutla Sluicegate at a cost of Tk 120 crore. With these two stations, rainwater will not accumulate in the city.
Sheikh Ashraf Uz Zaman, president of Greater Khulna Development Struggle Coordination Committee, said that not only drains should be constructed, they should be cleaned regularly. Most of the new drains are filled with waste. The monitoring of KCC in this regard is less. In the absence of proper supervision, huge sums of money are wasted.