Chittagong city has a natural excellent system for water drainage. But still, Chittagong city has seen terrible waterlogging due to excessive rain during the monsoon season this year. More than fifty people have died in Chittagong division due to floods and landslides. It is not unusual for hilly regions like Chittagong to experience heavy rain. Therefore, instead of blaming heavy rain for this disaster, we should blame mismanagement and far-reaching unplanned development activities. At the same time, indiscriminate cutting of hills and destruction of nature are also responsible for this. Despite its unique characteristics and geographically important location compared to other cities in Bangladesh, Chittagong’s environment is facing various threats due to unplanned urbanization, lack of awareness and proper coordination. As a result, Chittagong city has become a major problem today. These are – waterlogging, landslides; deaths from falling into drains and canals.
BangladeshNews
In many places in Chittagong city, waterlogging lasts from 30 minutes to about 8 hours. The depth of waterlogging varies from 0.50 meters to 1.60 meters depending on the place. In the port city of Chittagong, two types of waterlogging are mainly observed, tidal and monsoon, but the problem of waterlogging during the monsoon is mainly evident. In Chittagong, about 40-50 percent of the metropolitan area is waterlogged due to 30 minutes to 1 hour of rain during the monsoon. Waterlogging is becoming evident as the existing canals and drains are not wide enough and clean. In addition, for the work of waterlogging projects, dams are being built in some drains and canals, filling ponds and reservoirs, obstruction of water flow with various wastes including plastic, and the effect of tides and sediment accumulation, etc. The Bangladesh government has allocated about 13 thousand crore taka for four projects to overcome waterlogging in Chittagong. Although the CDA waterlogging project from 2017 to 2020 is 95 percent complete by May 2026, it is uncertain when the city residents will get its benefits. According to our research, 63 percent of the waterlogging in the city is due to man-made causes. These include inadequate drainage systems and lack of regular cleaning of canals and drains, unplanned dams, bridges, culverts and roads; hill cutting, filling of ponds and reservoirs, supply lines of government and private organizations in various canals and drains of Chittagong, unplanned urbanization and land use changes, etc. In addition to eliminating this problem, the future depends on sustainable planning to reduce waterlogging and other disasters.
Most of the hills in Bangladesh are located in Greater Chittagong, Chittagong Hill Tracts, Cox’s Bazar, Teknaf and Sylhet. A review of the history of landslides in Bangladesh shows that the first landslide occurred on the Kaptai-Chandraghona road in 1968, although no statistics on casualties were available in that landslide. However, since 1990, the number of casualties and deaths due to landslides has been increasing in Chittagong and Chittagong Hill Tracts districts during the monsoon season. From 1990 to 2000, 76 people lost their lives in 5 landslides. The worst disaster in the history of landslides in Chittagong Metropolitan City occurred on 11 June 2007; at that time, 127 people died in landslides at 6 places in Chittagong. Since then, landslides in Chittagong and Chittagong Hill Tracts have become a regular disaster in every monsoon season (2007-2021). The worst disaster in the history of landslides in Bangladesh occurred in June 2017. At that time, 164 people died in the hilly regions including Rangamati due to landslides caused by three consecutive days of heavy rainfall (June 11-13); of these, 120 people, including 5 army personnel, died in the Rangamati Hill District alone.
Deforestation, destruction of geological structures, construction of various structures including cutting down mountains, unplanned settlement on mountain slopes, excessive vehicles and overpopulation in the mountains, etc., combined with heavy rains during the monsoon season, lead to landslides.
According to the laws of nature, landslides will occur in mountainous areas. But if people unplannedly settle in landslide-prone areas and destroy the balance of the environment by cutting down mountains, then such disasters occur on a large scale and it is not right to blame nature for such accidents.
A report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) says that in 30 years, rainfall in Bangladesh has increased by 8 percent during the monsoon season. An analysis of landslides in the last few years shows that the average rainfall during the monsoon season in June-July has been higher than normal. In light of the above reasons and by observing the overall situation, the reasons for the landslides in Chittagong can be identified as continuous heavy rainfall due to low pressure in the sea, cutting down hills to establish risky settlements for Rohingya camps, deforestation and sandy soil.
BangladeshNews
To prevent floods, waterlogging, and deaths due to landslides in the greater region including the port city of Chittagong, unplanned urbanization, industrialization, housing, infrastructure, and mountain cutting must be stopped immediately. Destructive development plans that disrupt the natural balance must be stopped. The destruction of rivers, canals, and water bodies must be stopped.
