Aside from hazards related to law and order and commuting, the capital city is plagued with scores of other urban problems. The one that researchers and experts bring to focus these days frequently is housing. This has badly affected its residents, particularly those in the lower economic position.
Let's pick the recent incident of the collapse of a two-storey housing structure in the city. It poignantly reminds us of the festering problem. In the house-collapse, a total of 12 people have lost their lives with many sustaining injuries. Reports said the sloppily built tin-made house had suddenly bogged down, with its ground floor disappearing in the swamp in which it was erected using just bamboo poles. The structure was accommodating around 100 people including women and children. The tragedy occurred at Hajipara in the capital's Rampura area.
The cave-in has once again brought into focus the acute problem in the dwelling arrangement, meant for the less privileged people in this city. The floating people do not fall into this category. Except the hard-core urban poor among them, many from this class can avail space in the shanties. Life in the slums, however, is a different story. It has its unique character and features. It is the people viewing themselves as being a little above the shanty-dwellers, who rent rooms in the 'multi-storey' wooden or tin-made structures. Their profession ranges from vending, engaging in construction work to employment in low-paid menial jobs. Normally, these residential rooms are crowded, with a single one accommodating a large family with 6-10 members. There is hardly any privacy. Those living in the upper-level rooms do their cooking on the wooden floor. Strange though it may sound, many such structures in the city have power connections. Understandably, these electric lines are illegal, and pose the risk of electrocution.
Lately, building these large housing structures has emerged as an easy source of earning money. They are usually constructed on long-vacant government plots. Lands for this purpose are also developed by filling marshes, which belong to the railway or different government authorities. This typical form of housing business is allegedly run by local influential persons.
The cave-in of the makeshift dwelling structure has singularly resulted from the owners' apathy for the safety of their tenants. As urban-life experts find it, it is the longing for residing at a place better than a conventional slum that prompts many low-paid people to choose these 'multi-storey' improvised housing units. Upon being generally oblivious of the dangers of living in these wobbly structures, the tenants unwittingly place themselves before the jaws of hazards. Incidents of fire and electrocution are common in these warehouse-like tin sheds. A massive blaze in such a residential unit killed dozens of people in the city's Tejgaon area a few years back. Moreover, these houses are highly vulnerable to storms.
Of late, these houses have mushroomed in the city's suburban areas. It matters little as to in which part of the city this housing business is being run. Pushing people into a hazardous living is what that warrants focus. The two city corporations and other government agencies concerned have an assertive role to play in this regard.
Shihabskr@ymail.com
Living precariously in Dhaka
Shihab Sarkar | Published: April 26, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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