Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) has expressed concern over the filling of a water reservoir near the Airport Railway Station fearing a severe waterlogging in a vast area including Uttara Sectors 3 and 4 and a large area of the Civil Aviation during the upcoming monsoon.

DNCC Administrator Mohammad Azaz expressed this concern while visiting the development works at the Ashkona Rail Gate adjacent to the Airport Railway Station and its surrounding areas on Monday.

“We are apprehending a major waterlogging in the entire (DNCC) ward-50. The spot where we are standing now was a water reservoir. But it was filled due to the construction works of the three big mega projects,” he said.

He said the railway authority and elevated expressway authority and all others filled the water reservoir.

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"If there is no coordination (among the DNCC and the authorities concerned) and there is a heavy rain, the entire airport road will go underwater. There will be waterlogging in Uttara Sectors 3 and 4 and this entire place of the civil aviation,” said Mohammad Azaz.

He said they came there to create water channels there for rain water so that the magnitude of waterlogging is not so high.

The DNCC administrator hoped that the project authorities will restore the water reservoir as there are many KPIs including airport there.

He said a water reservoir is filled during the implementation of a project, but later the project implementers forget that there was a water reservoir there and don’t restore it. Then they want make it a field or build a market or commercial establishments there, he said.

In this context, he said Bangladesh Railway, Dhaka Elevated Expressway and Dhaka North City Corporation will work together to resolve waterlogging in the Airport-Ashkona area during the upcoming monsoon season.

"As work on several mega projects is ongoing, we are afraid of severe waterlogging this year, so preparations are being made to drain the maximum water before the monsoon," he said.

The DNCC administrator said that reservoirs are essential to mitigate major urban floods caused by climate change.

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He requested all concerned not to fill the reservoirs during the development project implementation. “If they do, they should restore reservoirs on completion of the project works,” he added.

DNCC Chief Executive Officer Abu Sayeed Md Kamruzzaman, Chief Engineer Brig Gen Md Moin Uddin, among others, were present.