Water

Country Water Action: Bangladesh
Drainage Improvement to Protect Food and Livelihood Security of the Poor and Vulnerable Urban Households

The case study highlights the work of the Institute of Water Modeling (IWM). IWM is located in Dhaka, Bangladesh and is involved in developing mathematical models and decision support systems for both surface and ground water and related environment. The applications of IWM modeling tools cover a wide range of water related aspects such as: flood control, flood forecasting, irrigation and drainage, water resources management, river morphology, salinity and sediment transport, coastal hydraulics, environmental impact assessment, bridge hydraulics and related infrastructure development.

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Urban and sub-urban dwellers in Bangladesh suffer due to congestion of drainage and sewerage. During monsoons, the drains overspill and dwellings get submerged. During the remainder of the year, unhygienic conditions prevail due to stagnant wastewater.

CARE Bangladesh undertook a project to support food and livelihood security of the poor through drainage improvement. The project covers four pilot areas - Tongi, Mymensingh, Jessore and Dinajpur.

Initial findings highlight the need for systematic information on the drainage system and networks. CARE Bangladesh tapped the services of IWM for this.

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The joint efforts of CARE Bangladesh and IWM yielded the following results:

• Inventory of drainage facilities
• Geo-referenced benchmark pillars for future use
• Interactive Information System (IIS) Database with facilities for prompt display of digital data as well as visual pictures at important locations

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Systematic information on drainage systems, translated into maps and databases, is new for Bangladesh. But its wide range of practical applications is undeniable-from development of service facilities to removal of localized congestions and more.

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Abdur Rahman Bhuiyan
Head, Survey and Data Division
Institute of Water Modelling
E-mail: arb@iwmbd.org