The Disastrous Flood of 1998 and Long Term Mitigation Strategies for Dhaka City (original) (raw)
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Non-structural flood mitigation measures for Dhaka City
Urban Water, 1999
After the disastrous¯ood of 1988, Dhaka Integrated Flood Protection Project (DIFPP) was undertaken as a part of the national Flood Action Plan (FAP). However, DIFPP focused primarily on the structural measures for¯ood damage mitigation. When the city was hit by another major¯ood in 1998, it became evident that non-structural measures contributed signi®cantly to¯ood damage reduction. This paper explores existing and proposed non-structural measures as a part of the long-term¯ood mitigation strategies for Dhaka City. The options examined in this paper include¯ood forecasting and warning, preservation of retention ponds, land use planning,¯ood zoning, emergency services, shelters,¯ood proo®ng,¯ood ®ghting and post-¯ood rehabilitation measures. Moreover, experiences from 1998¯ood indicate that coordination between agencies responsible for¯ood protection and drainage of the city can signi®cantly reduce the¯ood damage.
PLANNING FOR DISASTER MITIGATION IN FLOOD PRONE CITY OF DHAKA
Dhaka, the largest and capital city of Bangladesh, is a rapidly growing Mega city. Major environmental concern of Dhaka city is recurring natural disasters. Flood is actually the main natural catastrophic event now days for Dhaka city. To mitigate the flood hazard there is a Flood Action Plan for Dhaka, which was made after 1988 flood. Moreover, there are pre and post mitigation measures taken by Govt. Despite of these measures, Dhaka faces flood hazard in every year and the hazard is becoming more vulnerable day by day. So, there is a need for planning measures to mitigate flood hazard. In this thesis an attempt has been made to arrive at strategies for mitigating floods in the Dhaka city. The goal of the thesis has been achieved under five objectives. The phenomenon and characteristics of flooding in the city of Dhaka has been studied under first objective. The critical flood prone areas, causative factors, existing infrastructure problem that makes worst situation during flood and rainy season have been studied under second and third objective. Under forth objective review of Flood Action Plan of Dhaka has been studied. Suggestion for planning measures to mitigate floods has been studied under objective five. The analysis of the secondary survey data indicates that Dhaka faces two types of flood -monsoon flood and urban flood. This type of floods causes because of local heavy rainfall and blockage of natural drainage of water due to unplanned population settlement. Dhaka has both open and closed drainage system. Most of them are blocked due to solid waste dumping. As population is increasing day by day, slums have been taken place in the retention areas and along the canals & lakes. So, slum population is dumping solid waste as well as sewerage in the canals. It causes environmental hazard and blockage of natural drainage system. Moreover, natural drainage system is getting blocked by the nature (water hyacinth) also. So, storm water cannot be drained out properly during rainy season and it causes urban flood. These are major issues arrived from the analysis. At the end of the thesis some planning measures to mitigate the flood has been recommended. This recommendation has been divided into three categories. In the first category, the proposals of FAP should come true. Zoning of the area has been done also. In second stage the alternative allocation of urbanization has been worked out. The third step covers the preservation of wetlands, rejuvenation of canals, increasing the drainage capacity, increasing the public awareness and improving the situation by leg al instrument. An action plan has been prepared for a flood prone area called Kamrangirchar. Zoning has been done for the area. The zoning covers in three steps. Some other recommendations also have taken for the study area like- conservation of water body, protection of natural drainage system etc.
Effects of Flood Mitigation Measure: Lessons from Dhaka Flood Protection Project, Bangladesh
1996
Although, Bangladesh is subjected to perpetual floods every year, she suffered two of the most serious and devastating floods on record in 1987 and 1988 which lasted from later part of August to first part of September. Vast areas of the country including the Capital City of Dhaka with a population of about 4.8 million were flooded to an unprecedented degree with flood levels 1.5 m higher than normal for periods up to four weeks. In Dhaka City, it is estimated that about 200 sq km (77 per cent of the total area of 260 sq km) was submerged to depths ranging from 0.3 m to over 4.5 m (FAP 8B, 1991). About 2.4 million people (50 per cent of the city population) were directly affected by these floods. Conservative estimates of the floods suggest that loss due to annual flood is about TkI 250 milhon, and the damages to a 10-year (return period) flood and a 40-year (return period) flood are Tk 530 million and Tk 750 million, respectively (Bangladesh Water Development Board, Undated). Follo...
PERFORMANCE OF FLOOD CONTROL WORKS AROUND DHAKA CITY DURING MAJOR FLOODS IN BANGLADESH
Dhaka city has been protected by flood protective embankments, flood walls and raised roads along with flood controlling regulators, sluices, and both temporary and permanent pump houses. This study describes the performance of various flood control works around Dhaka city and tries to find out the causes of external and internal flooding of protected Dhaka during major floods in the recent past. It has been found that flood embankment and raised road around the city functioned quite well during all floods except the1998 flood. Though the performances of three permanent pump stations were found satisfactory, temporary pumps were found poor performing. However, the flood control measures of the city has come under challenge by recent issues such as gradual increase of urban encroachments inside retention pond, fill up of low lying areas, increase of social conflicts around flood control structures etc.
Dhaka Floods: The Need to Act Now
Agenda for Urban Concern 2000-2005, The Daily Star and Bangladesh Scouts, 2012
Climate change is no longer a matter for speculation. Its evidence is all around us, sensed in the floods every year, excessive rainfall in some areas around the world, unnatural and unseasonal droughts in other yet other areas, acid rain, melting ice bergs, shifting rivers, and so on and so forth. The endless list continues to be added to with increasing human interventions. Probably the only bright spot in the whole picture is that our knowledge of the whole scenario, about its causes and influences, and also about ways to stem the tide is increasing rapidly, and given the will, commitment and resources, that knowledge can be put to use. Whether the will can prevail against the surge of development is another issue. For the short-term gains from development in many cases far outweigh any longterm considerations for the environment. And therein lies the problem.
Towards sustainable flood mitigation strategies: A case study of Bangladesh
Disaster, Risk and Vulnerability Conference 2011 (Volume 1 Number 1), 2011
This paper outlines a part of a research and design project based on work undertaken for the B.Arch. at the Department of Architecture, Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology in 2008. This study intended to ease the lifestyle & livelihood of rural dwellers beside the river bank areas in respond to natural hazards like floods. Floods in the deltaic valley of Bangladesh is not merely an environmental issue, they play with the very fate of the nation, not to speak havoc they wreak on the economy of these inhabitants besides the bank side areas. Again this climatologic phenomenon not only poses enormous threats to the locality but also moderate floods contribute to the fertility of the land. Flood hazards of bank side areas of rivers are difficult to control through structural measures; Flood proofing through assistance to self help measures to reduce the damage to property and stress are largely accepted preventive efforts that these people have practiced. This paper focuses on formulating future action plans and some immediate incentives to improve the physical environment that are better suited to the people of river bank areas with frequently changing context. To develop a self-sustain community and sustainable mitigation strategies in response to observed or expected changes in climatic stimuli beside the riverbank areas, study goes through the geo-morphological & hydrological analysis and vulnerability assessments in this area. Finally goal is to provide zoning guidelines & few planning solutions along with modified house building techniques through flood level predictions, which would help the peasants at the time of emergency & could be intergrated into official flood management measure.
Water Policy
Confronting devastating floods regularly is a critical challenge for Bangladesh. Dhaka, the capital and a megacity at the forefront of rapid, unplanned urbanization, has been experiencing consistent challenges and threats of flood since 1954. Since then, to ensure flood protection and control, the city authorities have adapted diverse flood risk management strategies (FRMS). Regardless of the overall progress in flood risk management policies in the national development agenda, the inertness of their implementation means the city remains vulnerable. Along with that, several divergences from the development plans, for instance, the new town development in flood flow zone, the declaration to convert a residential zone into a retention area, illegal acquisition of wetlands for property development have also been observed. Therefore, the objective is to review the diversification of FRMS at the national level and to identify the convergence or divergence on the development plans at the ...