A large number of parks and open places in the city have been occupied illegally, squeezing the breathing spaces of dwellers in the overpopulated capital.
Nearly one-third of the capital's open spaces, which is much lower compared to the population density, has been illegally occupied by vested quarters including influential individuals in their localities and owners of various modes of transportation, a recent study revealed.
But green activists and urban planners, however, rejected the authority's claim saying that the number of illegally-occupied parks will be much higher than their estimation.
They singled out political interventions and poor maintenance by the public authorities concerned as main causes behind the growing trend of land grabbing.
After visiting a number of parks and fields under both units of the City Corporation-Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) and Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC), it was found that many of such open spaces are being used for parking trucks, buses, vans and rickshaws.
Some of those are partially used for the purpose of dumping garbage and a large number of areas of some others are captured by various government agencies, clubs and offices of political parties and transportation workers.
A few parks simply vanished as these are now used for other commercial purposes, paying no heed to the issue of relaxation of the common people in a city that faces critical land shortages.
A 0.23-acre small park at English Road, in front of the Bangshal Police Station, has now been converted into a parking stand for trucks and covered vans.
Shantano Biswas, a resident of Tanti Bazaar area of the Old Dhaka, said once the park served the local residents as a spot for breathing free, surrounded by trees. Now the place offers stinking odour much to the discomfort of the passers-by.
He said locals now go to the Bhahadur Shah Park, also known as Victoria Park located near the Jagannath University, which also came under illegal occupation as a large portion of the area became a dumping spot of garbage.
"Now where should we go for taking long and fresh breath?", he asked.
On the other hand, traders have been using the children's park at Kawran Bazar as a wholesale vegetable market. Another park in Gulshan section 1 has been turned into a dumping depot of garbage.
Seeking anonymity, a tea vendor at the Motijheel Park, just near the headquarters of the Bangladesh Development Bank Limited (BDBL), said he pays Tk 40 a day to various groups, including ruling party activists, city corporation officials and law enforcers to run his business there as others too do. More than 100 footpath and floating vendors were also found in and around the park selling their products.
Talking about the issue, Bangladesh Paribesh Andolan (BAPA) General Secretary Dr. M A Matin said the unplanned growth of Dhaka city has already made it almost unfit for living. If parks and open spaces continue to disappear at the present rate, the citizens will soon face serious environmental hazards threatening their well-being.
Referring to such illegal occupation, he said a vested quarter with the help of some unscrupulous officials of the DSCC and the DNCC create obstacles in the form of setting up dumping depots and car parking lots to discourage people to use those.
"If the trend further goes on like this, the ever-increasing number of city dwellers will hardly find any vacant breathing space in the vast expanse of the metropolis," he added.
In fact, the primary responsibility of the City Corporation is to protect and maintain open spaces, green spots and parks which have become rare now-a-days due to illegal occupation or use of those for many other purposes.
Local people use parks for morning walks and the children play there in the afternoon. Elderly citizens sit in benches at the parks. During load-shedding at night, many people come out of their houses to the parks to their great relief.
When contacted, DSCC Chief Estate Officer Khalid Ahmed admitted illegal occupation of parks, saying that they, in recent weeks, made a report on the current status of the open spaces under their jurisdiction.
Citing the report findings, he said: "One-third of the parks and fields under the DSCC went under unauthorised occupation and from next week, we will start eviction drive to free those from illegal occupation."
When his attention was drawn to the issue of receiving kickbacks from the footpath vendors, he rejected the allegation in general, saying that few unscrupulous officials might be involved in such unethical practices.
Another official in the DSCC said it becomes very tough to evict the unauthorised occupants as they are very influential and powerful than the City Corporations.
"In some cases, our officials were even manhandled by the occupants and they returned empty-handed," he added.
There are 49 parks in the capital under the jurisdiction of the DSCC (25) and the DNCC (24).
The impact of the open spaces on urban life can not be disregarded. In poor economic condition, the open spaces of the city can only improve the physical, mental and social state of the urban people almost free of charge.
Talking to the FE, environmentalist Iqbal Habib said their ongoing movement to save the Dhanmondi playground is the symbol for any protest against illegal occupation of public open spaces.
He said they are now waiting for the High Court verdict in respect to the playground. After getting it, they will launch massive protests involving people from all strata to regain the open spaces in line with the Natural Water Body, Open Space, Park, Play Ground Protection Law, 2000.
"From this month, we'll start movement to make Basabo Balur Math (sand field), Armanitola Playground, Segunbagicha Playground and Mirpur Housing Playground free from illegal occupants," he said.
Experts say that an ideal city needs to keep its 40-50 per cent of land open or free. In developed countries, 70-80 per cent of land remains open. In these days, the standard has been revised and it is suggested to keep 25 per cent land of an ideal city open and green.
The DAP (Detailed Area Plan) has recommended only 0.13 acres of parks and open space for 1,000 persons in the main Dhaka City, far below the WHO recommendation of 4.23 acres/1,000 persons for parks and open space.
Dhaka also ranked the world's second least livable city, according to the 2013 Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) Global Livability Survey and lack of open spaces was also blamed in the report.