Suspicion that Dhaka, now ranked as the world's second worst livable city, would soon become a dead city is growing as the problems it has been facing are becoming more complex over time. The situation is no better in the case of the second most important city, Chittagong that hosts the economic lifeline of the country - its main seaport. Nearly 80 per cent of the country's external trade is carried out through this port which, in turn, fetches 35 per cent of the government's revenue earning.
But unfortunately, as speakers at a roundtable held in Dhaka a couple of days back highlighted, neither the city of Chittagong nor its port is receiving the due attention from the authorities concerned in line with the important role they together play in the national economy. They felt that the Chittagong port needed further improvement in terms of technology and efficiency level and the city of Chittagong, a facelift as far as its civic and other facilities are concerned. In fact the problems that both the port and the city are now encountering, are not adequately highlighted in the national media the way the plight of Dhaka is projected.
There is no denying that there has been technological improvement in the handling capacity of the Chittagong port in recent years. But still problems in relation to its management and efficiency remain and these are manifested through recurrence of congestion of containers at the port or ships at the outer anchorage. For all the problems, the businesses have to count the costs which they later pass on to the consumers. Thus the existing lead-time of the Chittagong port, which is higher than that of many of its regional counterparts, needs to be reduced substantially by ensuring efficient handling of both ships and goods.
As far as the Chittagong city is concerned, its civic problems have intensified in recent years, because of indifference on the part of the authorities concerned. The city has a poor public transportation system. In the absence of a proper drainage system, like that of Dhaka, it suffers terribly from water-logging during the rainy season. Though it is called as the country's commercial capital, the facilities available there are not at all befitting to that name. Rather businesses operating in Chittagong have to come to the capital city of Dhaka very often to get things done. Under the circumstances, many business firms have been relocating their operations to Dhaka.
The overall situation points to the ill-effects of lack of decentralisation. All power is now concentrated in the capital city of Dhaka. Despite being the country's second most important city, Chittagong enjoys little authority to improve its own fate. So, the government would have to devise means so that the local government bodies and other autonomous entities in Chittagong could mobilise enough resources on their own and take up projects independently for improving physical infrastructure and other facilities. The port or for that matter, the city that helps the government fetch a substantial part of its revenue does deserve greater attention from relevant authorities.
Need for developing Chittagong
FE Team | Published: September 06, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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