Dhaka's floating population
Thursday, 2 April 2009
Anisur Rahman
THIS number seems likely to grow further and at a rapid pace as the rate of migration of such people to Dhaka, so far, suggests. They live a very poor quality life and, more significantly, they tend to make the city very unclean or add alarmingly to the steady deterioration of its environment.
Lack of proper sanitation facilities and the-too-overburdened state of the public toilet system compel such people to defecate freely in the open spaces. This is a great problem for those who have to keep the city clean. But that is only one aspect of the environmental consequences of having a burgeoning floating population in the capital city. The floating people are also the breeding ground of many other things that degrade the environment. For example, the underworld engaged in drug trafficking, muggings, robberies and other crimes, find a fertile source of recruits from among these floating people.
The first step towards addressing the problem would be one of enumeration. A study may be carried out to ascertain the total number of these people, the rate of their addition to the city's population, what pull factors bring them to Dhaka, how many are temporary residents rotating between their village homes and the city, etc. After knowing fully the facts and the reasons for their destitution, appropriate policies will have to be set in motion.
A major policy response would be decentralisation or building the current upazillas as local growth centres with various industries, services and other activities taking off extensively there to reduce the temptation of rural people to migrate to Dhaka.
Other measures should include creating a large number of shelters for the homeless with the costs being jointly paid for by governmental contributions and private charities. These people should be systematically and comprehensively assisted financially and otherwise to take up gainful activities at their points of origin and postpone or give up the idea of coming to cities.
In sum, any coordinated and big enough move taken to address the phenomenon of floating population in cities -- especially in Dhaka -- can be expected to create notable positive effects by reducing poverty, easing pressures on urban areas and urban living and consequently on the urban environment.
THIS number seems likely to grow further and at a rapid pace as the rate of migration of such people to Dhaka, so far, suggests. They live a very poor quality life and, more significantly, they tend to make the city very unclean or add alarmingly to the steady deterioration of its environment.
Lack of proper sanitation facilities and the-too-overburdened state of the public toilet system compel such people to defecate freely in the open spaces. This is a great problem for those who have to keep the city clean. But that is only one aspect of the environmental consequences of having a burgeoning floating population in the capital city. The floating people are also the breeding ground of many other things that degrade the environment. For example, the underworld engaged in drug trafficking, muggings, robberies and other crimes, find a fertile source of recruits from among these floating people.
The first step towards addressing the problem would be one of enumeration. A study may be carried out to ascertain the total number of these people, the rate of their addition to the city's population, what pull factors bring them to Dhaka, how many are temporary residents rotating between their village homes and the city, etc. After knowing fully the facts and the reasons for their destitution, appropriate policies will have to be set in motion.
A major policy response would be decentralisation or building the current upazillas as local growth centres with various industries, services and other activities taking off extensively there to reduce the temptation of rural people to migrate to Dhaka.
Other measures should include creating a large number of shelters for the homeless with the costs being jointly paid for by governmental contributions and private charities. These people should be systematically and comprehensively assisted financially and otherwise to take up gainful activities at their points of origin and postpone or give up the idea of coming to cities.
In sum, any coordinated and big enough move taken to address the phenomenon of floating population in cities -- especially in Dhaka -- can be expected to create notable positive effects by reducing poverty, easing pressures on urban areas and urban living and consequently on the urban environment.