The situation has been so for over a year, and the bad odour has made living almost impossible.

"We don't go out of the house unless it is an emergency," said Kazi Rashed, a resident.

"When I return from work I stay indoors. This life of captivity has become my daily routine," he added.

Local shop owners are troubled. The water logging has caused a downslide in business.

"My business has hit the bottom. Hardly does anyone want to wade across the dirty water to come to my shop," said Mominul a grocery shop owner.

The worst hit is the Shantibagh kitchen market and adjoining areas where stagnant water up to about five inches on road is a common sight.

"Our tenants are leaving. Two out of five flats of my home have been vacant for the last three months. No new tenants are ready to rent houses under this situation," said Anjuman Ara, a house owner at Shantibagh.

"Tenants can escape by moving to other areas, but where will we go?" she said. "We demand a quick solution to the problem," she added.

The residents also complained that the people are falling victim of skin diseases because of the dirty water.

"My domestic help ended up with scabies after wading through the dirty water for a day or two," said Nusrat Munni, a housewife of the area.

The commissioner of the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) ward no. 35 said the problem was due to the renovation work on the sewerage lines. He assured that this problem is temporary and will come to an end soon.

The sewerage lines from all corners connect to the Jhilpar canal at Shantibagh.

"The canal is too narrow to carry such a volume of sewerage water. Work is in progress to widen the canal and we had to close all outlets leaving a small opening for the water to flow. This resulted in the overflow," said Sajjad Zahir, commissioner of ward 35.

He said that this low-lying area would have a better sewerage system after the project is completed, but would take at least another three months.

Locals complained that the project is taking more time than they were told.

"We undertook the project earlier this year but could not work during the rainy season and thus the delay. We are confident that we could complete the project within the next three months," said the commissioner.

Along with the water logging, about 15 manholes in the area were seen without covers within a range of 500 metres.

"Although we provide covers to the manholes, these are often stolen. We will put in new covers as well," said Nazmul Hai, zonal executive officer, Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) zone-4.

The commissioner of the area, too, admitted that manhole covers are stolen from this area regularly.