LIVING ON THE EDGE OF STAGNANT WATER - AN ASSESSMENT OF ENVIRONMENTALIMPACTS OF CONSTRUCTION-PHASE DRAINAGE CONGESTION ALONG DHAKA-CITY FLOOD-CONTROL EMBANKMENT, BANGLADESH

Environmental impacts of the construction-phase drainage congestion al ong the Dhaka City Flood Control Embankment were assessed by a pilot q uestionnaire survey (in 1991) among the target population adjacent to the embankment. The results of the survey indicated that, despite sign ificant alleviation of river flooding, the majority of the respondents experienced a new type of flood problem in the form of stagnant water inside the embankment, immediately following its construction. Not on ly had this stagnant water flooded and damaged their property, it had exposed them to a number of other environmental problems, such as accu mulation of municipal sewage, foul odors, mosquitoes, and growth of wa ter hyacinth. The study found that the respondents' assessments of the se environmental problems differed significantly according to the magn itude of the impact of stagnant water upon two subgroups within the ta rget population, A postsurvey follow-up in 1994 indicated that this pr oblem of drainage congestion had largely been alleviated by completing the construction of a number of drainage regulators. The study conclu des by stressing the importance of synchronizing the construction of d rainage structures with that of the embankment systems and by underlin ing policy implications for flood-vulnerable land use adjacent to emba nkments.