The story of Swamibagh is a mirror of our city. Every morning begins like a battlefield. Residents open their doors with hope, only to find broken roads, piles of bricks and sand, and a muddy deadlock created by rain. In the name of development, the path meant to bring comfort has become a pit of suffering.
Dhaka's Swamibagh today resembles a laboratory-demonstrating how development work can paralyse daily life. The only lane connecting people to the main road has been swallowed by bricks, sand, and iron rods. Everywhere lie construction materials, making residents captive. Sidewalks have been taken over by tin shacks for workers and storage, leaving no space for pedestrians. Even light rain turns the road into a swamp of mud and stagnant water, spreading foul odour. Women, children, and the elderly now walk in fear.
The severity becomes clear on a closer look. Residents complain that no one cares about their suffering. This narrow lane was once their lifeline-for school, college, offices, groceries, or rushing to a hospital. Now it is a symbol of paralysis. Office workers fail to reach jobs on time, students arrive late to class and ambulances face uncertainty in entering this clogged and muddy path.
Daily life has become precarious. An old man with a grocery bag struggles to balance himself through the sludge. A schoolgirl, her white uniform stained, searches for a dry spot to step. To outsiders these may seem minor inconveniences, but for locals they mean constant stress, fatigue and helplessness.
The causes reveal the chronic sickness of urban management. Development projects start without proper planning. Timelines, alternative routes, or resident mobility rarely feature in blueprints. Once work begins, supervision is weak; contractors abandon sites while locals count their days in misery. Most importantly, the voices of ordinary people are ignored. Where they will walk, how much hardship they bear-these concerns hardly matter.
Swamibagh's struggle is not an isolated incident but a reminder of how urban development without accountability turns citizens' lives into a daily ordeal.
MD. Rished Ahmed
Swamibagh, Dhaka
mdrishedahmed@gmail.com
