Dhaka, an urban sprawl, is no less known for its shanties than its skyscrapers, rickshaws and intractable traffic congestion. In February 2013, then local government and rural development minister disclosed in parliament that the number of slum population was 3.5 million who lived in 4,000 slums. At the growth rate of about four per cent a year the people living in squatter settlements in the capital should be no fewer than 4.5 million by now. Worse, about 65 per cent of the city's population live in slums. The estimate is 60 per cent for the country itself.
Now, this is a frightening picture indeed. No wonder that slums are increasing, making news -mostly negative of the kind. The latest fire that gutted about 700 shanties including a boarding house in Madhya Badda exposes, once again the risks run by slum inhabitants. Thousands of poor people lose their little earthly possessions whenever fire breaks out in such slums. It has been a recurrent event in the life of slum dwellers. Then there are other types of tragedies to befall them. Shanties built on water bodies on bamboo poles sometimes give in crushing or trapping the inhabitants along with their material possessions underneath.
With the second highest density of population at 831 in Dhaka after Chittagong (1,032), per acre or 205,415 per sq kilometre, the congestion can be a really nightmare. How people save their life from such crowded shanties when fire breaks out is indeed a miracle. Given the materials used to build the squatter settlements, fire is likely to devour the shanties in no time. And this is what actually happens. Casualties involving children and old or infirm people are unavoidable most of the time. But this devastating fire at Badda did not claim lives mostly because residents there were away from home during the Eid vacation.
However, this is small consolation for people who have lost everything to the fire. They will have to start from the scratch. Victims of fires in all shanties have to do the same. But rebuilding life is no easy task for anyone particularly after loss of all material possessions -least of all for such poor hapless people. Now the question is if these people should be condemned to such fate repeatedly without any redress. As long as no regulation in constructing shanties is maintained, there is little hope of bringing about a change in such people's living quarters.
Years ago a study conducted by Proshika, one of the leading non-government organisations (NGOs) with support from the East Anglia University of the United Kingdom established that the rent paid by the slum dwellers per square foot is the highest in the city. Read against the near non-existent facilities in slums, this fact should prompt policy-makers and political leaders to review the issue of squatter settlement.
It is a fact that the cities in Bangladesh cannot reverse the migration of the rural poor to its cities. Unless satellite towns are created to disperse city population or opportunities for employment created in villages or small towns, the stream of people towards cities will continue. Now that they have employment in cities, they need to stay there. The few slum development projects undertaken in the capital and conurbations in other countries have shown that such initiatives improve the living standard of inhabitants there.
The problem here is the establishment of slums on privately owned lands. About 88 per cent such settlements have been set up on such lands. But given the highest rate of rent slum people pay, improvement in their living places can rationally be justified. If living quarters are built economically to turn them a sustainable source of income for the land owners, the exercise certainly makes sense. But land owners wait until the low land or water bodies can be filled up for construction of modern apartments where better tenants are expected to live in.
The government too is not keen to use up its scarce lands for squatter settlements. So there is none to give a serious thought to solving the problem. The NGOs working among slums take up issues like credit, education, health and sanitation but the housing issue is beyond their reach. In a situation like this, it is the government which has to make the first move. In Bhasantek it constructed a few residential quarters for the urban poor. There is a need for taking up similar low-cost housing projects.
Sure enough, there is scarcity of land but this does not mean land is totally unavailable. The Bangladesh Railway has unused lands in illegal possession. Some of those lands can be developed for housing for the urban poor. The important thing will be the cost. If slum dwellers can pay the highest per-square-foot rent, they will be able to afford moderate rate of rent in moderate housing facilities. The argument in their favour is that they will not ask for a whole lot of amenities but definitely the basic ones and a little improved version of what they enjoyed in slums. This is how development can be inclusive in order to speed up the momentum of fulfilling the millennium development goals (MDGs).              Â
nilratanhalder2000@yahoo.com
Alternative slum development
Nilratan Halder | Published: July 24, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00
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