In the monsoon, waterlogging is one of the greatest concerns for city dwellers. It has been found that the majority of the waste that clogs the drainage are plastic bottles and plastic bags.

Experts have attributed this to a lack of public awareness and good practice about the environment among city dwellers and said it would be impossible for the government or the city corporation to solve the waterlogging problem if people don’t take responsibility.

To reduce the volume of plastic added  into the drainage system and raise awareness, Dhaka South City Corporation’s Ward-21 councilor Mohammad Asaduzzaman has set up a bottle-shaped plastic collection point at Dhaka University's TSC area, and likely to put another 7 bottle-shaped plastic collection points across the 21st ward of Dhaka South City Corporation.

Also read: Plastic waste increases from 178 tons per day in 2005 to 646 tons in 2020 in Dhaka

The placard attached to the bottle reads "Put the plastic waste inside the bottle and help put an end to water-logging."

Contacted, councilor Mohammad Asaduzzaman told UNB, “Although WASA was supposed to clean the drain in the previous years, this year the responsibility has come on us. When we were conducting the drainage cleaning program, we noticed that plastic waste was mainly blamed for hindering water flow and logging in the drainage system. We have collected approximately one and a half thousand bottles from almost every manhole.”

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“So, I planned to set up such a bottle-shaped waste bin to motivate people to throw away these bottles in a dustbin, it is possible to prevent unwanted waterlogging. I believe that a unique awareness program can motivate people in a positive way,” he added. He claimed that he personally sponsored full money for the project.

“In a program sponsored by Coca-Cola, I saw that the whole stage was arranged in the shape of a Coke bottle. I thought my problem is also bottle centered so let’s do something with the bottle shape,” he explained.