Demolish illegal structures, recover Chaktai canal

With the waterlogging problem of Chattogram city going from bad to worse, we are shocked to learn that the Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) has actually played an active role in deteriorating the situation. Reportedly, a building constructed by the CCC on the city's Chaktai canal – without taking any clearance from the Chattogram Development Authority (CDA) – has been clogging the drainage system and causing waterlogging in the adjacent areas during monsoon for the last two decades. Although the CDA issued a notice to the CCC in 2016 to demolish the building, the latter did not comply. The structure is still there despite an order by the High Court in March this year to evict all the structures built on the canal.

Reportedly, over the last few decades, many such structures were erected on the land of the canal. According to a report submitted to the HC recently by the deputy commissioner of Chattogram, 48 illegal structures, including the city corporation establishment, residential flats, tin-shed buildings, business establishments and warehouses, have been built on around 20,000 square feet of the canal, obstructing its natural waterflow. While the Chaktai canal was once 61 feet in width (according to the RS survey), it has now been reduced to a narrow flow of 10 to 30 feet.

As the canal, which used to serve as one of the key drainage channels of the port city, has been choked by these structures, many parts of Chattogram city now go under knee- to waist-deep water even after a moderate rain. All these structures need to be demolished and the Chaktai canal needs to be excavated to reduce waterlogging in the city. Besides, all other canals and water bodies of the port city also need to be recovered.

The problem, however, is that there is a rivalry going on between the CCC and the CDA about their job responsibilities. While the CCC claims that it is the CDA's responsibility to solve the issue, the CDA says that they are just implementing a project to recover some of the canals and drains of the city. According to them, the CCC should take responsibility to recover the rest of the canals and water bodies that have been grabbed and filled up. And that is only justified. How can such a big-scale problem be solved by only implementing one project? We think the CCC and the CDA should work in coordination with each other to resolve the issue. The CCC can prove its willingness to work in this regard by first demolishing the building it has constructed on the Chaktai canal.