Wasa didn’t do any waste removal work: Taposh

Dhaka South City Corporation Mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh has said Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) had not done any waste removal work in the city for the last several years.

"Box culverts or canals were not cleaned for a long time, which is why the resulting issues took a serious turn," he said.  

The mayor made the remarks while inspecting the waste removal activities from the mouth of Kamalapur TT Para box culvert on Monday.

Drawing the reporters' attention to the decrepit condition of the TT Para box culvert, Mayor Taposh said, "You can see that this is an overwhelming workload. No work has been done here for a long time. Not only has waste piled up, but solid sediment has also accumulated in all the canals, culverts."

The corporation has been working tirelessly to make all the canals and culverts of Dhaka South fully functional by March, he said.

"Despite problems continuing to pile up every day, we will proceed with our task by setting up a work plan. Hopefully, the residents of Dhaka South dwellers feel the benefits by next monsoon. Though this task is extremely difficult and complex, we hope to see a positive outcome soon."

Mayor Taposh said, "Given the severity of the problems we saw in the canals and culverts, there should have been more waterlogging in Dhaka South. The fact that we're all still here is a miracle. There is no water flow system here – everything is completely blocked."

Dhaka South's Chief Waste Management Officer Air Commodore Badrul Amin, Waste Management Executive Engineer Dr Mohammad Shafiullah, other officials were also present at the time.

On 31 December last year, Dhaka WASA, , officially handed over the responsibility of alleviating waterlogging (canal and drainage) of the capital city to the two city corporations.

On 2 January, Dhaka South began its waste removal drive from the box culvert at Panthapath in the city.