Politics
Dhaka Approves $X Million Drainage Plan Starting October 2026
Approved allocations will direct crews to start clearing and widening drains in 14 wards, with visible effects on street flooding expected during the 2027 monsoon.
How we reported this
The Dhaka North City Corporation council on 7 July voted to release 1.8 billion taka from the 2026-27 capital works fund for drainage upgrades across 14 wards. The measure passed with a 32-11 vote and sets out a four-stage timetable that begins with contractor selection in August.
The decision follows repeated complaints logged by residents in Mirpur, Pallabi and Uttara about water entering ground-floor homes during last year’s rains. The budget paper released after the meeting states that the first stage targets 28 kilometres of secondary drains identified in the 2025 corporation survey.
Schedule for Works and Service Changes
Stage one, due to start in October, will close selected road sections in Mirpur Sections 2 and 6 for three weeks each while excavators widen channels. Households in those blocks will receive advance notice through ward offices and will see temporary rerouting of local bus stops. Stage two, scheduled for January to March 2027, moves to Uttara and Banani, where new outfall pipes will connect to the existing Turag River system.
Local residents will notice changes first in waste collection timing. The ordinance requires households in the 14 wards to separate organic waste into new bins supplied by the corporation, with collection shifting from daily to every other day once the upgraded drains open. Officials project that the separation rule will reach all targeted wards by June 2027.
The budget document lists a specific line item of 420 million taka for bin procurement and resident training sessions. Corporation records show that 68 000 households fall inside the 14 wards covered by the first two stages.
Next Steps and Monitoring
Contract awards are expected by 15 September, after which the corporation will publish a weekly progress tracker on its website. Residents can register complaints through the existing 333 hotline, with response times projected at 48 hours once field teams are deployed. The final two stages, covering remaining wards, remain subject to mid-year budget review in December 2026.