While the centre of Rajshahi city gleams with new roads, street lights and public works, residents of its slums and suburban neighbourhoods face immense sufferings during the rainy season due to flooding and water stagnation, exposing a stark disparity in development.
In Kharbona鈥檚 Panchabati area 鈥� well within the Rajshahi City Corporation boundary 鈥� residents like Mazera Bibi have been suffering as the area has gone under knee-deep water for a week due to heavy rainfall and the swelling of the Padma river鈥檚 water.
She now cooks on a stove placed on a bed. 鈥榃e鈥檝e been in the water for days. My hands and feet are full of sores. We just wait for the water to go down,鈥� Mazera said.
In many areas, the Padma river鈥檚 rise is not the only threat 鈥� poor or non-existent drainage leaves homes waterlogged for weeks after heavy monsoon rain.
According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, Rajshahi has 104 slums, with 81 per cent of families living in fragile, unhygienic structures.
During the rainy season, floodwater enters most of the houses in the slums while roads turn into stagnant pools.
Motahar Hossain, a resident of Shrirampur, a riverside slum area, said that flooding was a yearly ordeal.
鈥榃e live in a city but in rural conditions. Whenever the Padma rises, our houses go under water,鈥� he added.
In suburban Raypara and Borobongram, which are a bit far from the river, water stagnation is routine.
In Raypara, floodwater from Batener Beel, a nearby water body, entered houses after recent rains. 鈥楾here鈥檚 no drainage there. Rainwater fills the water body and then floods our houses. It stays for days. We鈥檝e been suffering like this for years, but no one from the city corporation comes to mend the crisis,鈥� said Kurban Ali, a resident of Raypara.
Borobongram resident Touhidul Islam blamed the city authorities for negligence. 鈥楢ll the development is in Shaheb Bazar and Upashohor areas. We pay taxes, but get no services 鈥� no drainage, no lights, and every rain leaves us wading through water,鈥� he lamented.
Weather office data shows heavier-than-usual rainfall this monsoon 鈥� 297.8 millimetres in May, 214.8mm in June, 380.7mm in July and 162.7mm so far in August 鈥撀� worsening the water stagnation situation in low-lying and poorly serviced areas.
Jamaat Khan, president of the Rajshahi Raksha Sangram Committee, a platform of city protection campaigners, said that the imbalance in development was deliberate.
鈥楾he centre of the city has no shortage of projects, but suburban areas have been ignored. Funds are there, but they focus only on tax collection, not equitable development. This can鈥檛 go on,鈥� he added.
Rajshahi City Corporation chief engineer Ahmad Al-Moin and development executive engineer Mahmudur Rahman could not be reached over phone for comments despite repeated attempts.
Hundreds of families in Rajshahi remained marooned for the third consecutive day on Friday as low-lying areas have been flooded due to a rise in the Padma water level.
According to the Rajshahi Water Development Board, the water level of the Padma at T-groin point in Rajshahi City remained unchanged in the past 24 hours till Friday evening as it was flowing 56 centimetres below the danger mark.
Arifur Rahman, executive engineer of the board, said that the water level might rise over the next three days, but after that, it was expected to recede.
