The latest round of mudslides in and around Chittagong, earlier this month, will hopefully open the eyes of the concerned authorities. More than 100 people were killed and many went missing after overnight torrential rain resulted in villages located in inaccessible areas in Hathazari Upazila, in Pahartoli, in Kusumbagh, near Baizd Bostami and the Chittagong Cantonment being washed away by mud-mixed rain water rushing down the denuded and deforested hill slopes. Fortunately, the joint rescue-relief operation minimised further losses.

This month heavy monsoon downpours have not only resulted in severe water logging but also flash flooding of vast areas of the country. Town-protection embankments and earthen filled embankments (protecting agricultural land) were breached in many villages of different Upazilas. This caused substantial losses to property and also to crops. It has also reiterated once again the pitfalls of unplanned construction, lack of proper maintenance by the Water Development Board and total disregard of environmental principles.

In Dhaka city, it has been several rounds of frustration. The city authorities were found wanting in terms of management and maintenance. The photographs published in several papers and footage in the electronic media reflected the total helplessness of the city dwellers. Misery was the only epithet shared by over thirteen million Dhakaites. I am not including the other ten million living in the outskirts of our capital city.

The Dhaka City Corporation and other infrastructure institutions associated in looking after the city immediately claimed that exceedingly high rainfalls had caused this year's misfortune. They also pointed out that matters had been worsened because the downpours had been concentrated within short periods of time. They however failed to explain the reasons for the sorry and pitiable state of our storm sewerage system run by Dhaka Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) and the surface sewerage system run by the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC).

Two aspects are now very clear. The people living in this densely populated city are extremely vulnerable to weather variabilities and that those responsible for city management are not serious in the discharging of their responsibilities. Sociometric overlay, politicisation, corruption, opportunism and bending of laws and regulations have created an unacceptable situation. Criminal nexus between officials of different agencies like RAJUK, WASA and the DCC and the construction industry have further exacerbated the misgovernance in this sector.

I was discussing the current scenario with some officials of DCC and WASA. It appears that the DCC has 999.47km of open drains and 1052.19km of pipe drains. The WASA on the other hand seems to have about 240 km of storm sewerage lines. It was also revealed that in 1960 the city had 43 canals. Since then, all of them have been encroached upon. This has been mostly due to movement and migration of rural population to this city. Millions of impoverished, landless peasantry have come to Dhaka in search of employment and gradually established temporary habitation in the form of bustees on either these canal banks or on the canals themselves. Raised bamboo platforms were initially used to erect temporary structures. Over time, many of these units have become semi-permanent through landfilling and land grabbing. This, in turn has affected natural water flow and water discharge. This critical change has been facilitated through corruption and political muscle power. There has also been faulty road planning (as in the case of Dholai Khal near Nawabpur Road) and this has also contributed to the deepening of the malaise.

Every year, for the last two years, we have seen efforts and drives by the City and WASA authorities aimed at reclaiming lost canals, low-lying government khas land and water bodies. These were supported with funds received from the World Bank. Some of these initiatives tasted success. Such drives were however eventually postponed due to some critics describing such World Bank initiative as being anti-poor. Since then, over the last year, we have read reports of fresh encroachment into areas that had been cleared in Begunbari, Hatirjheel and adjacent areas of Gulshan Lake.

Surveys carried out after the latest bouts of water logging have indicated that major encroachments in and around Dhaka city are centred in the following areas -- Katasur Khal, Ramchandpur Khal, Segunbagicha Khal, Jirani Khal, Shahjahanpur Khal, Mohakhali Khal, Debdholai Khal, Kolyanpur Khal, Ibrahimpur Khal and Mukda Khal. It has also been revealed that water was flowing over a significant majority of the box culverts because of the lack of requisite cleaning and maintenance activities. The lack of dredging of the Buriganga and the Turag rivers around the city of Dhaka, the encroachment into the rivers by illegal land grabbers and unauthorised sand filling of adjoining riverbanks have added to the aggravation.

Dhaka receives about 140 to 160 cm of rainfall during the four months of monsoon that traditionally starts from the end of May or early June. Effects of climate change and climate variability have made this pattern more volatile and sometimes unpredictable (with regard to intensity). Juxtaposed with a poor water discharge system, water logging has now become a part of our lives. This is particularly affecting those who live in and around Swamibagh, Gopibagh, Motijheel, Shaplachattor, Mouchak and Rayer Bazar and other low lying areas. Personal hygiene has been thrown out of the equation with everyone, including school children, having to wade through dirty water with excrement floating all around them. Every heavy shower also makes transportation a nightmare.

Time has come for those in Administration to take the crisis more seriously. We are not looking after our environment. Consequently, we cannot also expect that our environment will look after us.

The Chittagong disaster has underlined the cause and effect of this relationship very well. Cutting of hillsides and denuding of its green cover has raised the chances of erosion and landslides. Unplanned inhabitation has also raised the stakes. Ravaging of the hills has affected the natural and ecological balance of the beautiful port city. Obstruction of natural flow of water coming down hill channels combined with denudation appears to have precipitated the landslides.

Reports have indicated that nearly 70 earthen hills have not only totally disappeared (cut down for landfill purposes elsewhere and also to create greater building space on a flat surface) from the city of Chittagong but also another 40 have been partially cut down in the adjoining areas. I understand that there are strict laws against the cutting down of such topographic structures. Environmentalists have also for many years been drawing the attention of the authorities about such a potential catastrophe. Unfortunately, political clout and black money have held sway.

It is time to establish a fact-finding commission, composed of urban planners, transportation and sewerage specialists that will not only determine existing areas of vulnerability in our hilly areas and within city limits but also propose remedial measures and a suitable environment regulatory mechanism that needs to be adopted and legally enforced throughout the country.

We have many government institutions and departments who are responsible for providing a safer and cleaner life for our citizens. Unfortunately, there appears to be very little coordination between these agencies. They also pay very little heed to the suggestions made by appropriate representatives of the civil society. This is something that needs drastic improvement.

We have to understand that continuous failure on our part to address this issue can and will seriously affect our economic development, our health and our standard of living. We cannot afford that.

Muhammad Zamir is a former Secretary and Ambassador who can be reached at mzamir@dhaka.net