As monsoon nears, Dhaka South Mayor Sayeed Khokon has warned residents of waterlogging, which he says the existing drainage system is not capable of tackling.

“If the city is hit by more than 50mm rain, the existing drainage system will not be able to handle it. We can't guarantee that waterlogging won’t occur by heavy rainfall. Heavy rainfall caused waterlogging in many cities around the world and it’s a worldwide problem,” he said on Saturday (Apr 27).

Khokon was speaking at a Meet the Press on 'Role of people’s representatives and citizens in resolving waterlogging problem' at Dhaka Reporters’ Unity in the capital’s Segunbagicha. Dhaka Unity Reporters’ Association organised the event.  

The mayor said, “We want to bring down the waterlogging to a tolerable degree. We can’t say that water will vanish moments after heavy rainfall. Solving the problem entirely isn’t possible for us.”

Responding to a quarry, Khokon said that only an hour of heavy rainfall will cause waterloggin in Dhaka and the water would take three to four hour to go away. “It’s not easy to come up with a solution [to this problem],”

The mayor blamed river grabbing and set up of illegal establishment are the reason for resulting bad derange system.

“Canals, through which water will flow, have been occupied; lower areas have been filled by sand; different structures have been built. As a result, flowing water [after rainfall] gets difficult,” he said.

According to the mayor, Dhaka WASA is responsible to remove waterlogging problem from the capital.

Khokon said the city corporation authorities, however, are ready to take over it.

“Canals, which are linked to the city drainage, fall under the jurisdiction of Dhaka district authorities while WASA is tasked with its maintenance responsibility... If all service can be brought under a single authority providing services and taking effective measure would be easier,” he said.