The minister of Local Government and Rural Development instructed authorities to address water logging in Dhaka during the rainy season. The government has taken effective initiatives and within a couple years, water logging problems seen in previous years will no longer exist after May 30th when monsoon season arrives. Many lakes in Dhaka had been filled in, preventing water drainage and causing water logging, but the government has recovered many lakes from grabbers with plans to recover remaining lakes within a year. This will eliminate water logging in coming years. The minister also addressed underground water usage exceeding safe levels and instructed a plan to reverse the ratio of surface to underground water usage to bring underground reserves back to safe levels within 8-10 years.

1. Wednesday, April 13, 2016
A co-operative initiative required to make the Dhaka metropolis free from water logging-
said-the LGERD minister.
FE Report
Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development on
Wednesday have given instruction to the related authorities to solve the crisis of water in dry
season and water logging in rainy season.
The government has taken effective initiatives. In couple of years such problems will not exist.
After 30th
May as the monsoon arrives, there will be no water logging in the Dhaka metropolis
like earlier years.
In the inter-ministry meeting programme to address the solution of the water logging problem of
the city, Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said such as presiding the meeting held at the conference
centre of the LGERD ministry, stated in the press release.
Annisul Huq, mayor of DNCC, Sayeed Khokon, mayor of DSCC, Abdul Malek, secretary of
LGERD department and related officials of the ministry, among others, were present in the
meeting.
Many lakes of Dhaka metropolis were being grabbed earlier, for this reason the waters from the
road could not move anywhere and water logging took place as a result. This year we have
regained many of the grabbed water bodies from the grabbers, the remaining lakes will be
regained within a year. As a result there will be no water logging in the city in the coming years,
said LGERD minister as speaking on the occasion.
About the water crisis in the different parts of the city the minister said that we have used the
under-ground so massively that the level of water has crossed the danger level. The situation
remains same all over the country. The reason is the 70 per cent of the water that we supply are
from the underground reserve of the water and only 30 per cent of the supply comes from the
surface water level in the city. As a result the water level has crossed the danger level. The
system will be reversed. The 70 per cent of the water supply will be from the surface water
source and 30 per cent of the water supply will be from under-ground reserve source from now
on. If we can continue in such manner, within 8-10 years of the future the under-ground reserve

2. of the water will come to the safe previous level. The will be no crisis of drinkable water in the
city as a result, according to the press release.
It is a human right to get safe drinking water from birth, the minister added. Due to existence of
some corrupted circles in the country the water crisis breaks out. They create crisis to sell water.
He instructed the Dhaka WASA to serve safe water in the each and every holding of the city
dwellers.
The crisis of water will be dissolved very soon. The reasons of water crisis have been identified
and solutions are also generated to meet the crisis. Initiatives have been taken to increase the
sources of water and effective measures undertaken to solve those water crisis issues. We hope
within few days there will be no such crisis of water, the minister added.
To solve the water crisis and water logging problems he also instructed related departments and
organizations to strengthen the co-operation and collaboration among them, the press release
added.
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Ends/Sanwar Hossain