In Chattogram, drains eat up people!
“I thank God for letting me at least see my son’s body for the last time,” Ali Kawsar said while sobbing. Kawsar is the father of Kamal, the 12-year-old boy whose body was recovered on Thursday from Mirza Khal in the Muradpur area of Chattogram, around 68 hours after he fell into
In Chattogram, drains eat up people!
Mashfiq Mizan | Published: December 11, 2021 14:35:55 | Updated: December 19, 2021 20:14:29
“I thank God for letting me at least see my son’s body for the last time,” Ali Kawsar said while sobbing.
Kawsar is the father of Kamal, the 12-year-old boy whose body was recovered on Thursday from Mirza Khal in the Muradpur area of Chattogram, around 68 hours after he fell into a drain.
Kamal along with his friend Rakib fell into the open sewer at around 4:30 pm on Monday. Although Rakib succeeded in coming out alive, the drain was not so kind to Kamal.
Located at Sholashahar Railway Station area under Panchlaish Police Station, this is the same drain in which 55-year-old vegetable vendor Saleh Ahmed had fallen into on August 25 last.
However, his family was not that lucky as Ali Kawasr, who at least found the body, or what remained of his baby boy. A seven-day rescue operation by Chattogram Fire Service and Civil Defence divers failed to locate the remains of Saleh. The open drains have set up a perfect death trap for the people living in the port city.
As the commercial capital of the country sinks even after minimal rain, it gets nearly impossible for its residents to identify these roadside sewers. In September, a university student named Seherin Mahbub Sadia was also swept away by an open drain.
On December 5, the High Court issued a rule questioning why authorities concerned will not give compensation of Tk 100 million to the family of Sadia.
On June 30, a CNG-run auto-rickshaw fell in one such drain killing two, the driver and a passenger.
Unfortunately, neither the Chattogram City Corporation nor the Chattogram Port Authority (CDA) is ready to take responsibility for such deaths.
The city authorities are yet to cover these drains, suggesting the successive deaths of the innocents are not enough to stir the conscience of the port city’s guardians.
When approached by the media, Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, mayor of the Chattogram City Corporation simply said, "We will cover this drain after the Chittagong Development Authority (CDA) completes its work."
Prior to this, he said, “CDA has been working on it as part of a mega project to address the waterlogging issue. So, this particular drain cannot be covered.”
But the CCC mayor failed to state a temporary solution to the imminent danger of human life and did not give a timeframe on when CDA would hand over the project to CCC.
Most canals of the port city are uncovered as CDA has taken a TK 50 billion project to expand them in order to mitigate waterlogging.
When contacted, the concerned authorities seeking anonymity told the scribe that the City Corporation has no idea on how many sewers are uncovered. We contacted Amzad Hossain, the Principal at Child Heaven School of the city for his take on the unfortunate deaths of children in Chattogram streets.
The man who nurtured the future generations of the country for decades said, “I am worried.”
“The child (Kamal) could have been one of my students, I have to constantly worry about my kids as the roads are gradually becoming more unsafe.”
It feels like the city authorities simply don’t care, Amzad added.
“I hope it doesn’t come down to children demonstrating on streets to force the authorities’ hands regarding the issue (putting slabs on unopened drains), just like they did for same roads,” Amzad concluded.
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