Dhaka, Oct. 12 -- Every monsoon, as the skies open over Dhaka, the streets of one of the world's most densely populated cities turn into shallow canals.
Cars stall mid-road, rickshaw pullers wade through knee-deep water, and commuters trudge across flooded intersections - scenes that have long become an annual ritual.
But this year, the deluge has lingered even into the autumn rains, underscoring the city's deepening infrastructure crisis and the apparent futility of its billion-taka budgets.
For the 2025-26 fiscal year, Dhaka's two city corporations - the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) - announced budgets totalling nearly 10,000 crore taka combined. Yet, for most residents, even basic civic s...