No Rain, Yet Knee-Deep Water: Stagnant Filthy Water in Sreepur Ruins Clothes and Torments Schoolchildren

There has been no rain, yet knee-deep water stands on the road. Children must wade through that filthy water to reach school, and ordinary pedestrians suffer every day on the same route. On the Maona Chowrasta-Bartopa road at Barnamala Mor in Gazipur's Sreepur municipality, long-standing waterlogging has become a daily misery for local residents.

Residents complain that water covering roughly 600 feet of the road is not only obstructing movement; mixed with dirt and sewage, it is also polluting the surrounding environment. Having to walk through the foul-smelling water has raised health concerns for children, students and nearby residents.

The area is home to Barnamala Kindergarten, Baitus Salam Jame Mosque and various other educational and business establishments. Countless people travel to these places every day, and school-going children and their guardians are suffering the most from the waterlogging.

Barnamala Kindergarten director Md Jahidul Haque Sumon said his school teaches children from play group to class five. Because of the waterlogging, many children are unwilling to come to school. Those who do come often have their uniforms and shoes soaked and ruined in the dirty water.

Some guardians are carrying their children in their arms to deliver them to school. He said this is disrupting the school's normal educational activities, and the scene at Barnamala Mor every morning and at closing time has become a regular one.

Students are not the only victims; worshippers going to the mosque face the same ordeal. Tarek Hasan, a worshipper at Baitus Salam Jame Mosque, said dirty water gets onto his clothes and shoes on the way to the mosque, and sometimes he has to pray in that state.

He complained that household sewage mixing with the standing water has made the situation even more embarrassing. As a result, the waterlogging now obstructs religious, educational and everyday movement alike.

According to local residents, an ineffective drainage system is the main cause of the Barnamala Mor waterlogging. Without proper outlets for wastewater from nearby residential buildings and businesses, water collects in the drains. Waste clogging the drains then blocks the flow, causing the water to spill onto the road.

Residents have demanded quick drain cleaning, restoration of the water outflow and proper sewage management. Without regular monitoring and an effective drainage system, they say, escaping this suffering will be difficult.

Sreepur municipality administrator and Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Nahid Bhuiyan said he is aware of the waterlogging. He said the road will be inspected and necessary steps taken to resolve the problem.

Residents are now waiting to see when work begins on the ground after the inspection and assurances. If knee-deep water can stand on the road without any rain, they fear that even a little rainfall could make the situation far worse at Barnamala Mor.