City dwellers deprived of minimum civic amenities

Jubair Hasan and Yasir Wardad Life in the Dhaka metropolis has become miserable and cumbersome as the dwellers are not getting minimum civic amenities, dwellers and experts said. According to them, rocketing house rent, acute water-gas-power crisis, traffic congestion, shabby condition of roads and poor health services have put life of the growing citizens in peril. City planners and consumer activists termed lack of coordination among the service providers in the capital, home to 150 million people, is the main reason behind the weak services. An official of a state-run insurance company, Md Anisur Rahman, who has been living at Mohammadpur since 1999, said uncontrolled accommodation costs, shortage of utilities and traffic congestion have jeopardised his life. "Nobody cares about our civic amenities as if this is a city of no authority," he said, adding that he could not leave the city for not having enough financial security at his village in Kurigram. Housewives in various areas of the city said there remains little pressure of gas in the burner after 10:00am almost everyday, causing immense difficulties in cooking food. They also face acute water crisis that forces them to manage their food from the unhygienic restaurants. The Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) does nothing with the house rent, which is gradually being increased by the owners illegally almost every year, a number of the city dwellers claimed, requesting the DCC authorities to strictly monitor the unusual hike. DCC Executive Officer of Dhaka Zone-2 Md Ataur Rahman said the DCC has no authority over fixing house rent. This is done by a cell in the Deputy Commissioner's office. He said, "The DCC just collects holding tax from the house owners and rent tax. The house rent is fixed as per square feet by the Deputy Commissioner's office. We just collect it". According to DCC, the house rent for the all ten zones are almost the same although actual house rents for different zones have significant differences. The official said the DCC should be given authority of fixing the house rent that would help the dwellers. DCC chief health officer Brigadier General Nasir Uddin said they have been battling hard to provide sound health care services to its people, particularly the lower income group. "It is not possible to ensure better health services with the existing manpower and logistic support. Our manpower is not increasing compared to the massive migration to the city," he said. The DCC has some 103 healthcare centres in its 10 regions to provide free health services to the poor community, he said admitting that they do not have the capacity to meet the health requirements of the slum people, who account for nearly 37 per cent of the population. The health official said they have stepped up the anti-mosquito drive in the capital to protect city people from mosquito bites that could endanger their lives. Mohammad Siraj, a rickshaw-puller of Nawabganj bazar in the capital, came down heavily on Azimpur Healthcare Centre, saying that they could not find the doctor most of the time, prompting them to go to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) for treatment. Mohammad Rafiq, a grocer of Eskaton area, said that he has not seen any DCC sprayer over the last two months in the area. "I've never seen such a large number of mosquitoes in my life as I face everyday in my home especially in the evening," he said. According to the Health Department statistics, a total of 1,270 people have been diagnosed with the deadly fever - dengue - until October 13 with six deaths, the highest toll since 2006. DCC chief engineer Brig Gen Abul Hossain admitted the poor condition of many of the capital's roads, saying that they have taken projects worth Tk 2.66 billion to repair dilapidated roads and develop other necessary infrastructure of its communication system. He said they would soon conduct a joint study with Dhaka Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) to know the condition of the capital's drainage system. DCC Chief Waste Management Officer Bipan Kumar Saha said a total of 13 million people generate a total of 4,200 tonnes of solid wastes everyday. "The DCC team can remove at best 2,200 tonnes of waste," Saha said, adding that a total of 0.17 million (1.70 lakh) rag-pickers take away 800 to 1,000 tonnes for recycling. "The rest 1,000 tonnes of wastage go into the drainage system, water bodies, canals and rivers. The DCC has only 271 drainage cleaners for this 144 square mile area of 92 wards," he said. "Nothing can be changed unless coordination among the service providing agencies in the metropolitan area is ensured," another DCC official said on the condition of anonymity. Urban planner Prof Jamilur Reza Chowdhury said there is no unique solution for the mega city due to negligence for decades. "It will take a long time even if the authority takes measure for the solution at the moment." Emphasising decentralisation of the capital, he said the industries should be relocated from the city. The vehicle regulator - Bangladesh Road Transport Authority - should not give licence to too many vehicles without considering the capacity of the city's streets, which is one of the reasons for the traffic jam. "I think implementation of the detailed area plan (DAP) can be a survival tool for the DCC," he added. DCC Mayor Sadek Hossain Khoka emphasised the necessity of empowering the corporation as it has no authority to provide key utility services to the citizens. "Close coordination among the service providers is needed for ensuring civic amenities," he said. The DCC has some seven service providing agencies like WASA, RAJUK, and Titas. Talking to the FE, he suggested forming a metropolitan government which could provide all kinds of services under the supervision of DCC. President of Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) Quazi Faruque said consumers' rights in the capital are regularly being violated. "People will not be able to stay in the city unless immediate initiatives are taken to rein in the growing living costs," he said.