1

What is Wetlands?

Figure 1: Wetlands

Figure 2: Padma River

2

Wetlands are those

areas
that
are
saturated
by
surface or ground
water
at
a
frequency
and
duration sufficient
to
support
and
under
normal
circumstances
do
support
a
prevalence
of

Wetlands in Dhaka

Figure 3: Rivers around Dhaka City

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Functionality of Wetlands

Figure 4: How wetlands work

The wetlands are

habitats for a large
variety of flora and
fauna. Wetlands are
critically important
in Bangladesh for
human settlements,
biodiversity,
fisheries,
agricultural
diversity, navigation
&
communication
and ecotourism.

In the tropical region where monsoon causes huge rainfall

during some part of the year are naturally drained by the
gravity drainage through stream-river networks, and wetlands
works as natural retention storage.

Figure 5: Benefits of Wetlands

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Current Situation of Wetlands in Dhaka

Figure 6: Wetlands in Dhaka City from

1978 to 1988

Figure 7: Wetlands in Dhaka City from 1998 to 2009

Wetlands Area Decrease Statistics

140

Area of Wetlands in
KM2

120
100
80
60
40
20
0

1978

1988

1998

2009

Year
s
Figure 8

Causes:
The main reasons behind decreasing
of wetlands are:
Land Filling
Encroachment
Lack of co-ordination between
government agencies
Maintenance to the system and
implement of pertinent laws
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What is happening?

nplanned urbanization is hampering natural

tate of drainage causing:
Sudden inundation
Water-logging
Rainfall flooding
Figure 9: Water logging in Urban area

Source: Dhaka Tribune published: 23:43

august 22, 2013, retrieved on March 06,
2015 [http://goo.gl/nnrVFn]

Figure 10: Rainfall flooding in Dhaka city

Recent Incidents

At the time of the July

2004 floods 40% of
the capital, Dhaka was
under
water.
600
deaths were reported
and 30million people
were
homeless.
100,000 people alone
in Dhaka suffered from
diarrhea from the flood
waters.
Figure 11: Rainfall choropleth map of
Dhaka chity in July 2004

Cloud outbursts of 28th July of 2009 caused

intense rainfall of 333mm over 9 hours which
led to a city-wide disruption.

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Sources
EPA. Retrieved on March 06, 2015 [http://goo.gl/lx5573]
Dr. Mohammed Ataur Rahman (Director, CGEC International University of
Business
Agriculture and Technology Bangladesh), Wetland Preservation in
Dhaka City Area [http://goo.gl/6YoQvA]
River flooding in an LEDC - Bangladeshi floods, Retrieved on March 06, 2015
[http://goo.gl/xsVgJO]
Dr. Mohammed Ataur Rahman (Director, CGEC International University of
Business
Agriculture and Technology Bangladesh) ,Wetland Preservation in
Dhaka City Area [http://goo.gl/6YoQvA]
Figure 1, 2 & 3: Dhaka City Rivers: Dhaka Circular Waterway - May 6, 2005
[http://sidtupper.ca/journals/waterway/]
Figure 4: http://icwetlandsproject.weebly.com/background.html
Figure 5: http://www.earthgauge.net/2012/wetlandsmonth
Figure 6, 7 & 8: Mallik Sezan Mahmud, Arif Masrur, Asif Ishtiaque, Fouzia
Haider, Ummai Habiba, Remote Sensing & GIS Based Spatio-Temporal Change
Analysis of Wetland in Dhaka City, Bangladesh. Journal of Water Resource and
Protection Vol. 3 No. 11 (2011), Article ID: 8678, Retrieved on March 06, 2015
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