Building a livable Dhaka

The unprecedented student-led movement has drawn the full global attention to Bangladesh and Dhaka is now in the focus of news media in the country. Can it be that we become inspired by this attention to our country and it motivates us to try and transform Dhaka into a better place to live in? Dhaka has seen extraordinary expansion over the last few decades, almost to the exclusion of any other economic growth centre in Bangladesh, making it the primate city of the country. Grappling with the complex challenges emerging from this phenomenal expansion, the city authorities have often chosen the easy way out to deal with many deep-rooted problems by taking stop-gap measures. The result is a development that has been termed as "messy and hidden". While it would be impractical to expect the interim government to 'fix' the city during its tenure, there are certain measures that could be taken during the interim period that would potentially bring some relief to the city dwellers. A couple of such issues are enumerated below.
The traffic signals should be made functional after synchronisation. A common justification offered against synchronised traffic lighting is that it is too expensive. It is not mentioned, however, that the cost reductions that would ensue in the form of lesser time as well as fuel and energy spent on commuting would certainly outweigh the syncing costs. Syncing traffic lights is more than just making them go green or red at the same time, rather the syncing has to be done based on the volume of traffic, particularly on the main arteries. Hundreds of crores have already been spent on ambitious plans towards managing traffic in the city but unfortunately, we are yet to see something as basic as functional traffic lights. Solar panels to power the traffic lights, countdown timers and digital display boards are all there but the lights never light up! Globally, traffic lights offer a practical solution to streamlining a large volume of traffic in addition to being efficient, both in terms of low cost and minimal physical space required for their installation. We need to start with establishing some basic orders on the streets. A beginning can be made by using the already installed traffic lights in a planned and meaningful manner. Our masses, and even those in charge of controlling traffic, need to first get accustomed to an elementary traffic signaling system before embarking on a more advanced, smart traffic management system, for which a prerequisite is appropriate infrastructure.
The second point pertains to streamlining the urban waste management system. At present, organic wastes, recyclables, and plastics are all dumped together, rendering garbage management difficult. Apart from a free-for-all trash dumping practice, our existing garbage disposal system is not only archaic, but is one that violates basic human rights. Upon collection, waste pickers rummage through the filth, with no protective gear, to sort recyclable and reusable materials. Not only do these indispensable informal workers lack the legal status, but even the economic value of their critical work is not recognised. It is unfortunate that the authorities have not been able to enforce a simple yet important practice of segregating wet and dry waste at the source and depositing them in colour-coded bins to ensure their proper collection, processing, and disposal. Just this practice alone could substantially reduce the workload of the urban local bodies. Such waste disposal models exists in many countries and it is a matter of adapting those to our conditions. There have been many studies on waste management, some exclusively on Bangladeshi cities, and these studies, based on their findings, have made important recommendations. Among them is that wet waste (which forms the bulk of all wastes) is used for composting or bio methanation while dry waste is recycled. Such strategies can drastically reduce the waste volume in the landfills. A significant challenge to implementing source segregation will be bringing about behavioural changes in the public toward waste disposal. To start with, the sooner, source-segregation is made mandatory, the better it is.
The suggestions listed above are nothing new, rather discussions on these issues have been going on for years! Yet we have barely moved from where we were. So where is the hitch? On the first issue, the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) are in charge of the installation and maintenance of the city's traffic lights while the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) is responsible for their operation. But for more than a decade, the DMP has been at a rift with the city corporations on the issue of maintenance of these lights. On the second issue of waste management, a well-thought-out, scientific Clean Dhaka Master Plan was formulated in 2018 by both city corporations. It had been lying with the Local Government Division for several years awaiting its approval, before being finally retracted by the DNCC. A lack of coordination between the concerned bodies ultimately led to the unfortunate abandonment of the master plan.
A common element in the two issues mentioned above is that initiatives for positive changes fizzle out soon after they are made. This is the case with many problems that plague the city corporations - mosquito menace, waterlogging, potholes, bus route rationalisation, illegal parking, encroachment of footpaths and many more. In the face of a lack of accountability and ownership, a blame game between the concerned authorities is a commonplace.
Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), namely the city corporations and municipalities, often cite financial insufficiency as a key reason for their inability to provide quality services to residents. However, it is observed that the Dhaka city corporations are able to spend less than the revenue they raise, however meagre the amounts may be. So spending capacity is an issue. A recent newspaper report cited one of the city corporations' inability to spend even half the allocation for planting trees in the past eight years. To cite another example, putting up 'beggar-free area' signs makes little sense unless beggars are informed and rehabilitated. If beggars could read such signs and just vanish, then wishes would be horses and beggars could ride! Capacity building through training on project prioritisation and prudent financial management must complement an expansion of the revenue base. What is the use of enhancing the revenue-raising capacity, if the enhanced revenues cannot be properly expended? Thus, alongside augmenting revenues, institutional strengthening of the ULBs, by the way of a strong financial management system as well as engaging personnel that possess appropriate skill sets will be the key. Training for capacity building of the ULBs will require strategizing and systematic implementation. For a demand-driven approach to capacity building, a partnership between academia and professionals would be ideal.
The importance of an operation and maintenance (O&M) budget can hardly be overemphasised. However, in Bangladesh, budgeting for O&M is a neglected area. We have seen many good projects fall apart due to a lack of maintenance. Potholed roads are a glaring example. Even the most well-executed project can fail in the absence of an O&M component in its budgetary considerations. Wear and tear is a natural progression and to ensure sustainability, this aspect must also be accounted for in the budget formulations.
Social audit is an effective way of ensuring democratic governance, accountability and transparency within an organisation. Operating on the premise that citizens have a right to know what the government does, a social audit is different from a financial audit in the sense that the latter is done by certified accountants, auditors or companies while the former is a participatory activity done by civil society organisations in collaboration with government officials. Introducing a social audit in the ULBs to assess the decisions and actions of the body, would effectively work towards checking corruption and instilling honesty and efficiency in the system.
In recognition of the fact that local governments have a propeller role to perform in the development of a nation, there exists a constitutional provision (Article 60), which states that local government institutions be given the power to levy taxes to meet their budgetary needs. However, in the absence of any formal, clear-cut arrangement between the central and local governments, the latter face a lack of fiscal autonomy. The Local Government (City Corporations) Act 2009 provides little real power to the city corporations while the central government holds the ultimate power to enact any legislation. Each city corporation has its own Fund and as per the Act, all the money collected by the city corporations will be kept in their respective Funds. The Fund has to be maintained in government banks or in any other form, as directed by the government. For instance, the centre has the executive authority to take charge of any entity hitherto under the city corporation or transfer the charge of any entity currently under the centre to the city corporation (Article 42 of the Act). Again, the chief executive officer, who is in the overall charge of administration and implementation, is appointed by the government. Thus, over the years, repeated calls for devolution of power largely remained on paper only. The ULBs (as well as the other local government institutions) remain at the discretion of the central government authorities for financial support, which is often unpredictable and inconsistent. In fact, the ULBs have been weak takers of the decentralisation process falling victim to the inherent power play between the centre and the periphery.
Bangladesh's youths have been at the centre of the August uprising that has taken place in the country. Being a fundamental component of the demographic dividend, the youths, if empowered, can play an active role in all spheres of society including local governance. In the existing scheme of things, the involvement of youths is non-existent, which is a sheer waste of valuable resources. Their dynamism, enthusiasm and ability to think out of the box will be precious inputs in the planning of development programmes, their implementation and monitoring. The youths can become the harbingers of change and transform our cities. In fact, the participation of the citizens, in general, in local government activities would instil a sense of ownership and lead to demand-driven initiatives for development.
The interim government has formed several commissions aimed at reforming the system. The pertinence of the issue demands that measures exclusively focused on reforming local governance also be adopted. The government has expressed its intention to initiate the reform process and we have recently seen some changes in the guidelines for ULBs to utilise development funds. However, we need stronger, concerted and devoted efforts coupled with smart policy moves to set the ball rolling towards sustainable development of our cities. Innovative ideas to bring about behavioural changes in the conduct of citizens will be an equally important element in this process. The current aggressive urbanisation, particularly in Dhaka, is not conducive to harnessing its potential to transform the city into a comfortable and thriving one. We continue to live with the ignominy of Dhaka being one of the least livable cities in the world. This article has highlighted certain basic changes that are needed for better city governance. Reforms take time, but the earlier they are instituted, the better it is for us, because the development of a nation identifies with the development of its cities.

Firdousi Naher is a professor of economics at the University of Dhaka.
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