Dhaka city's current approach of urban development comes with a huge destruction of natural buffer capacity. All wetlands, all natural ponds, all natural depressions and all natural drainage systems are falling victim to infrastructure and real estate development. While such endeavors yield significant short-term profits by allocating land for development, they compromise long-term resilience. Streets, basements, and underground stations become susceptible to flooding due to inadequate drainage and diminished buffer space. Natural capacity for long-term resilience is sacrificed for short-term private gains. The bill for cleaning up the mess needs to be paid and in almost all situations this is going to be public money.

The recurrent pattern is evident. Private investments and real estate development erode the buffer capacity of the city. When faced with extreme events, irrespective of their connection to climate change, the city lacks the necessary buffer space and drainage capacity, leading to inundation and exposing many residents to flooding. Ultimately, it is the general public that bears the financial burden of these consequences. It appears that our drive for short-term private profits often outweighs our capacity to build resilient cities.

See the source article by Dr.Willem van Deursen on the New York City water logging issue. 

Wetlands act as natural buffers, providing flood control and water purification. Shrinking wetlands increase flood risks and harm water quality, diminishing biodiversity and green spaces that regulate temperature. To address this issue, it is imperative for the government of Bangladesh to take proactive measures to protect and restore these vital wetland ecosystems, safeguarding Dhaka's future against environmental threats.

This app shows the growth of Dhaka over a map of water extent. From the map it is clear that urban is creeping into areas that used to be water and wetlands, thus decreasing space for storage and buffers for water.