Crash programme to clean canals, culverts from next Saturday: Taposh
DSCC targets complete removal of waste from three canals and two box culverts by next March
Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) Mayor Barrister Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh on Thursday announced that a crash program will start from next Saturday to clearing three canals and two box culverts in the capital.
He was speaking as the special guest at the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing to hand over the responsibility of rainwater drainage from Dhaka WASA to DSCC and Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) at a hotel in the capital, said a press release.
DSCC Mayor Taposh said: "We have undertaken a huge initiative to remove waste from Jirani canal, Manda canal and Shampur canal alongside Panthapath box culvert and Segunbagicha box culvert"
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He also noted that DSCC has set a target to complete the removal of waste from these three canals and two box culverts by next March.
"The length of these three canals is about 20 km and the condition of the box culverts cannot be known until we start work," he added.
Taposh remarked that if DSCC succeeds to clear these canals and culverts by March 2020, they will start clearing the rest by next June.
He also claimed the clearing procedure will be self-financed.
"If we want money from the ministry for project-based work, we may not be able to start in the next two years. That is why we are starting the works with our own funds," he said.
Local Government and Rural Development (LGRD) Minister Tajul Islam said the exact reason why the responsibilities of those canals went to WASA is not known, noting that the handover process was not easy.
"So there was a lot of lack of coordination in the maintenance of the canals," he said.
The minister said as the canals have been handed over to DNCC and DSCC, they will be responsible for maintenance.
"The canals will no longer cause waterlogging in the city," he added.
DNCC Mayor Atiqul Islam said: "Earlier, the water on streets would have gone down to canals if it had rained. But now, even after a few hours of rain, water does not come down from the road."
He added that to solve the waterlogging problem all the canals under DNCC have been cleared under their own initiative.
The MoU was signed by Taksim A Khan, managing director of WASA, and the chief executive officer of the two city corporations.
