One of the key events in the history of Dhaka is the beginning of the local government system, and this year marks 160 years of Dhaka Municipality, which is now Dhaka City Corporation in two separate units - North and South. In March 1864, the Bengal Government in British India passed the Municipal Improvement Act or Bengal Act III of 1864. The law led to the transformation of many of the towns and cities in the province, including Dhaka, into municipalities. In simple terms, a municipality generally means a district's urban area with corporate status and self-governing powers.
The institutional infrastructure of municipal administration was a direct product of the governmental intervention. Under the new act, such municipalities were empowered to raise funds for 'improvement, education, and other local objects by levying rates upon houses, lands, animals, and other sources'. The new act was officially extended to Dhaka on August 1, 1864. A government notification also defined the area where the 'Dacca Municipality' would exercise its jurisdiction. The British government also appointed a body of 21 commissioners to run the municipal administration, and the body's first meeting took place on August 11, 1864.
Even before the setting up of the municipality, Dhaka witnessed a kind of local government, though not a structured one. There was a system of an improvement committee. Introduced in 1813, the committee was abandoned in 1829. Eleven years later, the 'Dacca Committee' was formed and continued until 1864. The committee had little authority and capacity to address the city's and its inhabitants' problems. Historical records, however, showed that the 'improvement committee' (1813-1829) did some good work and took the shape of semi-municipal authority.
The introduction of the municipal system was not welcomed by the Daccaites, as the municipality's first major act was the levy of rates upon houses and lands. The commissioners decided to assess the rates themselves to save money on hired staff. The Dhaka Prokash, edited by Dina Nath Sen, criticised the assessment process of home tax.
As the government selected the commissioners, they felt little responsibility for doing work for the residents. They were also less capable of doing so despite being aware of the city's problems; some of them had been in Dhaka since childhood. Some even won good names for some work at their level. However, being inexperienced and unaware of public works, they failed to deliver. For instance, Dhaka was extremely filthy then, and the commissioners were at a loss to remove the town's sewage. The lack of a proper drainage system and pure drinking water in the city was a severe problem the municipality was unable to fix. It is ironic and also disappointing that 160 years later, the city still suffers for want of a well-managed drainage system and adequate supply of pure drinking water!
To address the water problem, Khawja Abdul Ghani and his son Khawja Ahsanullah donated Rs One Lakh. Interestingly, 150 years ago, Lord Northbrook, the first British Viceroy to visit the city, laid the foundation stone of Dacca Water Works to get water supply from the river Buriganga. Four years later, on May 24, 1878, the waterwork was formally opened for public use.
The election system to appoint chairman and commissioners was introduced in 1884, twenty years after the setting up of the municipality. Anada Chandra Ray was the first elected chairman of the municipality, and Khawja Amirullah was the first vice-chairman. As the election process started, the city's residents got the opportunity to express their opinions, although in a limited form. Nevertheless, it is also a landmark event for Dhaka and the legacy of the elected local government has continued since then despite facing some disruptions over the past century and a half.
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