Large parts of Khulna city were submerged for the third time in just 10 days after continuous heavy rainfall from last night until this morning, disrupting normal life and exposing what experts describe as deep-rooted failures in urban planning and drainage.
The city was similarly inundated on July 1 and July 9. According to Mizanur Rahman, assistant meteorological officer at the Khulna Weather Office, 89mm of rain fell between 6:00am yesterday and 6:00am today, followed by another 17mm between 6:00am and 9:00am today.
While heavy rainfall triggered the flooding, urban planners say the city's worsening waterlogging is driven by decades of unplanned urbanisation, disappearing ponds and canals, changes in land elevation and the lack of an integrated drainage system.
Khulna City Corporation (KCC) has around 76,400 holdings, of which nearly 50,000 now lie below the level of adjacent roads and drains, according to officials involved in urban planning. As a result, once rainwater enters residential compounds, it drains away slowly, leaving many homes inundated long after roads become passable.
Over the past six years, more than Tk 750 crore has been spent on canal re-excavation, new drains and rehabilitation of drainage infrastructure. However, residential areas were not raised alongside roads, leaving many neighbourhoods resembling low-lying basins where water accumulates.
Ismail Sheikh, a resident of Boro Lane beside the Dolkhola temple, said stagnant water had remained around his home for two days.
"The three rooms occupied by my tenants on the ground floor have become unusable," he said. "Now just a few hours of rain are enough to flood the kitchen, bedrooms and courtyard."
Experts also blame the steady disappearance of natural waterbodies.
Professor Md Ahsanul Kabir of Khulna University's Urban and Rural Planning Discipline said ponds act as natural reservoirs, temporarily storing excess rainwater during intense downpours.
He said authorities should assess whether raised roads are obstructing natural water flow and design drainage systems so rainwater can flow to lower areas before being pumped out. He also warned that Khulna's coastal location makes flooding almost inevitable when heavy rainfall coincides with high tides, adding that the KCC probably lacks adequate pumping capacity.
He called for a comprehensive Storm Water Management Plan, including a digital elevation map to identify water accumulation points, restore viable waterbodies and recover encroached canals.
Md Abir Ul Jabbar, KCC's chief planning officer, said the city's 2011 master plan identified 3,592 public and private waterbodies covering about 1,011 acres, but most privately owned ponds have since been filled. He said the KCC has completed designs to preserve and beautify 18 government and institutional ponds, adding that around 25 percent of urban land should ideally remain as wetlands.
According to the Khulna Development Authority's 2025 Detailed Area Plan survey, 80 of the 298 identified waterbodies across the city's 31 wards have disappeared completely, while 27 have been partially filled. The rest remain in a fragile condition.
Abdul Hamid, a resident of Karigarpara, said many canals have also lost their natural flow due to years of neglect.
"Fifteen to twenty years ago, there was a strong current in the Karigarpara canal. It has now turned into an almost dead drain," he said, adding that even moderate rainfall now inundates Napitpara, Kundupara, Bairagipara, Sahapara, Sabuj Sangha ground, the Daulatpur Day-Night College area and nearby neighbourhoods.
Professor Anwarul Kadir, former president of the Conscious Citizens' Committee (SANAK) in Khulna, said waterlogging cannot be resolved simply by building more drains.
"Road elevations, residential land levels, canals, ponds, river connectivity, pumping facilities and rainwater retention areas must all be managed as a single, integrated system," he said, warning that the current crisis reflects a lack of coordination in urban development.
