Bifurcating Dhaka City Corporation

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Khalilur Rahman The government has decided to split Dhaka City Corporation (DDC) into two separate corporations - DCC (North) and DCC (South) - for providing, as per an announcement, better civic amenities to the ever-increasing number of townspeople. The decision to divide the DCC was taken at a cabinet meeting last week with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair through an amendment to the Local Government (City Corporation) Act, 2009. In fact, with the steady influx of people from far-flung areas of the country, the metropolis has now turned into one of the most densely populated cities in the world. At present the city population is about 15 million spread over an area of 360 sq km within DCC limits. With regard to bifurcation of the DCC, the government feels that one city corporation is hard put to provide civic amenities to the huge population and that is why it is necessary to divide the corporation into two. As per proposal, out of the total 92 wards the DCC (North) will have 36 wards and the DCC (South) will be set up with the rest 56 wards. Tejgaon and Mohammadpur police stations will serve as the border line between DCC (North) and DCC (South). The activities of DCC are mainly confined to four major areas - garbage disposal, maintenance of roads and surface drains, street lighting and mosquito control. The services being rendered by the corporation are far from satisfactory. However the DCC is not alone responsible for its unsatisfactory performance. Lack of coordination among the agencies providing utility services is largely responsible for the prevailing situation. Despite efforts taken by the successive governments to establish some sort of close working relationship with utility service providers like Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA), Titas gas, telephone department, Rajdhani Unnayan Kartipakkha or RAJUK - Capital City Development Authority - and electricity supply, the result is not at all encouraging. This has caused sufferings to the city dwellers. As regards conservancy service the DCC is yet to make any headway in waste disposal. This is one of the major tasks of DCC. Slow disposal of garbage, particularly hospital wastes from different parts of the city, poses serious threat to public health. The DCC blames shortage of manpower and equipment for the poor conservancy service. Hazardous hospital wastes are found littered in many places around public and private health facilities. Both young and old people are often found collecting empty blood bags, syringes, plastic bottles and many other discarded items kept dumped on roads by the hospitals and clinics. Though it is the primary responsibility of DCC to prevent this dangerous practice, so far it could do very little in this regard. Last month the Department of Environment (DOE), for the first time in Bangladesh, realised a fine of Taka 0.25 million from a specialized heart hospital for dumping wastes in open places at Senpara in Mirpur in the city causing environmental pollution. Residents in adjoining areas of the hospital were facing health hazards as the hospital authority found it convenient to dump a variety of waste materials in the thickly populated residential area. On investigation, a DOE team found that the hospital management used to throw wastes in open places defying public protests. The DOE team asked the hospital authority to remove wastes from the adjoining areas and clean the drains. The fine was imposed as per environment law for improper management of wastes causing environmental pollution. Recently the DCC has put into service some waste disposal vehicles imported from Japan. But the rate of garbage disposal from dumping spots has not improved much. The DCC estimates that about five thousand tonnes of garbage are generated in the city every day. But the DCC cleaners can collect a little over three thousand tonnes and around two thousand tonnes of garbage remain uncollected daily. Medical experts say that people, particularly children and elderly, are more vulnerable to hazards of piled-up garbage on thoroughfares. How far the proposed bifurcation of DCC will serve the citizens' genuine right to civic amenities is difficult to predict at the moment. Some say that creation of two corporations will substantially raise the overheads expenditure. At present, the DCC has over six thousand staff members. The corporation often complains about serious shortage of staff for maintaining day to day service. It is assumed that equal number of staff will be required to run another DCC. And after spending so much of taxpayers' money, if the service remains as it is now, the city population will have another albatross around its neck. (E-mail: khalilbdh@gmail.com)