Dhaka was once defined by its waterways – restoring them, experts argue, could finally free the city from its gridlock
Those who live in Dhaka describe the rush hour commute as “urban hell”. The capital of Bangladesh is the second most populous city on earth, home to an estimated 36.6 million people. It is also said to be the slowest city, with road traffic crawling at 4.8km per hour. Al Amin Tusher, writing for Netra News, says it feels like “a life sentence”.
He describes the experience of boarding a local bus: “there is barely room to stand inside… Horns blare relentlessly. The bus lurches forward, pauses, crawls, and jerks again. The inertia is constant, testing the body’s ability to absorb shocks.”
Now, perhaps, a solution has emerged: Dhaka’s waterways, many of which have been covered up with concrete in recent decades. (Some striking maps in the article show the situation from 1960 to now). Could re-opening these waterways solve the city’s traffic crisis? “Dhaka is at a critical juncture”, transport specialist Dr Hadiuzzaman tells Netra News. The entire city lies within a ring of water 110 kilometres in circumference, he explains. If all the waterways within this circle were connected, the resulting 450-kilometre network - Tusher uses the word “artery” – could reduce pressure on the roads by 30 per cent.
The destruction of the waterways wasn’t purely accidental, argues urban planner Iqbal Habib, but is rather the result of greed, corruption and over development. He recalls a 1996 attempt to restore Dhanmondi Lake - which ended up leading to the construction of a shopping centre instead: “A mess of structures was then built to engulf this water channel. There was no way to think about how it might be restored again.”
In the 1980s, the Begunbari Canal was concreted over to build the Panthapath Road. Reducing natural flow of water has increased run-off in the monsoon, increasing the risk of flash floods, while also trapping sediment. (The city is now removing 200,000 tons of sludge from the Hatirjheel and Panthapath areas).
Netra News describes the situation as a “painful case of bureaucratic neglect”. A 2016 decision to restore the waterways has met with little progress. The project director said he had not been given any directives to proceed. To achieve the task, he tells Tusher, “one would have to tear apart the existing infrastructure and plan a new city”.
A new government has taken office in Bangladesh in recent days. Will they rise to the challenge?
The original article ‘Why Dhaka’s Waterways Matter More Than Flyovers’ by Al Amin Tusher, was published in English by Netra News on March 22, 2026. It is available here.
Netra News is an independent, non-profit Bangladeshi digital news outlet founded in 2012 that specialises in investigative journalism and in-depth reporting on Bangladesh. Based in Sweden, it was founded by Tasneem Khalil, an exiled Bangladeshi journalist, who serves as their editor-in-chief.
