Residents of several wards of the Dhaka South City Corporation continue to suffer as the Hazaribagh canal that flows through the area remains choked with waste, spreading a foul smell.
Several residents have said that the city authorities have rarely cleaned the canal and surrounding areas in eight months and the cleaners have stopped removing waste before Eid-ul-Azha, which fell June 7.
鈥楾he waste in the canal hasn鈥檛 been cleaned in eight months. Some waste was removed once or twice from nearby areas. But the cleaners have stopped removing waste before Eid,鈥� Monir, a tea seller of the area, has said.
They also complained that severe pollution was causing them illness, including stomach-related issues, fever and headaches.
鈥榃e suffer from diarrhoea, fever and headaches. We cannot open our windows because of the waste and the foul smell,鈥� Minara Begum, who has been living in the area for 12 years, has said.
She has said the situation turns worse when it rains as the waste spills over.
Municipal and animal wastes were piled along the canal railing, which serves as a passage for walking, at Boubazar of Hazaribagh on Tuesday.
Waste inside the canal has blocked the water flow, spreading a foul smell. Several mats used for butchering meat into cuts on Eid day still lie dumped in the canal.
People living in buildings right beside the canal held their noses as they went in and out of the houses and passed by. Children ran barefoot on the filthy ground.
Md Rezaul Karim, regional executive officer for Zone 2 of the Dhaka South City Corporation, said on Tuesday, 鈥榃e have not been able to carry out our duty because of the protest at Nagar Bhaban that has halted services for more than a month.鈥�
Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Ishraque Hossain, along with his supporters, has been holding protests at Nagar Bhaban since May 15, demanding that he should be sworn in as mayor.
Abdul Haq, who has been living in the area since 1989, has said the tannery waste once heavily polluted the canal, but the severity has decreased since tanneries were relocated to Savar about eight years ago.
鈥楾he canal is filled mainly with municipal waste although some tanneries that are still there discharge dye and chemical waste into the canal,鈥� he has said.
Abdur Rahman, who has been living in the area for about 40 years, has said that a fish scale factory discharges waste directly into the canal, making the smell unbearable.
He has said that the authorities sealed the factory once, but it somehow restarted operation later.
The canal, flowing through from the Kalunagar sluice gate into the River Buriganga which is part of Dhaka鈥檚 drainage system, has lost its width and length because of rampant encroachment, pollution and a lack of maintenance.
