Building a Waterlogging-resilient Sylhet City

Background Information

The initiative has been taken according to the election manifesto and commitment of the new mayor of Sylhet City Corporation. The city dwellers largely suffer from waterlogging during the monsoon season and it has become a major challenge for the City Corporation. The newly elected mayor, Ariful Haque Chowdhury, assured the city dwellers that he will take the necessary initiatives to eradicate waterlogging. The initiative has been started according to the commitment of the mayor to different communities living in Sylhet.   

Goals of the Initiative

The goals of the initiative are to free the city areas from waterlogging so that residents’ daily lives will not be disrupted during the monsoon. The expected outcome is to create a community-based mechanism to raise awareness and ensure the preservation of the city’s natural water resources through sustainable drainage systems. It is a community-based model through the formation of Ward Disaster Management Committees (WDMC) and Community Volunteer Groups (CVG) for each ward. The City Corporation Disaster Management Committee has been activated to coordinate ward-level group activities. Risk assessment has been conducted at ward level and risk reduction action plans have been developed. These assessment findings have been incorporated into the development budget plan of the City Corporation. The financial support comes largely from the annual budget allocation of the government and partially from INGOs working on related issues in Sylhet.

Innovation for the Initiative

The initiatives and activities of the Sylhet City Corporation can be considered as revolutionary. The Sylhet City Corporation has become a pioneer in implementing the program. Though community-based approaches to disaster risk reduction have been promoted and practiced by INGOs before, the initiative to engage community groups by a community-based approach to eradicate waterlogging can be considered a pioneer initiative in Sylhet. A community-based approach is a strategic move by the City Corporation to ensure community ownership. The implementation is being done based on the design and plans developed by the city and also through the findings from the community-level risk assessments. Financial arrangements are being done through leveraging budget allocation from the Annual Development Plan (ADP) and also from other stakeholders such as INGOs. The governance and administration have been decentralized as ward-level disaster management committees support the City Corporation Disaster Management Committee.

Outcomes and Assessments

For this initiative, the change is quite visible. Sylhet is the rainiest zone in Bangladesh. Previously, different areas of the city were waterlogged for several days every year during periods of heavy rain. But this year, though the monsoon has already started and there is heavy rainfall, there is no sign of waterlogging yet. This is due to the re-excavation and restoration of natural drainage systems across the city with community support.

In addition, a vast change is visible in the community’s mindset. Previously, the common perception of the people was to dump garbage in the drains alongside the settlements. But now, people have started to realize that these are their natural resources and the jammed drains are the main reason behind the waterlogging they face every year during the monsoon. The community members spontaneously participated in the cleanliness campaigns through the City Corporation’s initiative and considered the maintenance of the drainage systems their own work.

As a result, residents’ daily lives have not been hampered by waterlogging. The community has not been affected severely like in previous years. Now, the schools are open during the monsoon. The livelihoods of people are not affected either. The education and income generation sectors are safe from being affected. At the same time, the natural water resources are safer as people are not dumping garbage there. The rainwater is flowing through these drains and moving quickly toward the major rivers and other channels. The environment of the city is cleaner and hazard-free.