Ensuring a liveable Dhaka city

It may be an overstatement at the moment to say that Dhaka city, with a population of over 13 million and destined to be recognised as one of the mega-cities of the world in terms of population size only a few years from now, is unliveable. It is still liveable, but it cannot go on like this. The label of 'unliveable conditions' would surely be pinned on the city sooner rather than later and that date is not far away unless plans and their execution start immediately to positively reverse the present trends of degradation all around. Lack of planning has been at the root of Dhaka's woes. The present poor drainage system of the city reflects the lack of enforcement of planning as all natural drainage systems were grabbed by various encroachers. The natural drainage channels need recovering under short and medium terms and restoring of their natural flows. Simultaneously, the network of man-made drainage system needs much expanding as well as ensuring the unimpeded maintenance of both systems. The city's water supply will have to be substantially augmented. The relatively cleaner surface waters from the Padma and the Meghna rivers will have to be piped to Dhaka for the purpose. The same will call for early planning, mobilisation of funds, and timely execution of projects. These schemes must be expedited for saving Dhaka from serious mismatch between demand for water and its availability only some years from now. In the short term, government must go all out for improving traffic policing, keeping road spaces open to the maximum for vehicular movement, organising proper parking of vehicles on the roadsides for the same purpose, ensuring proper signalling at intersections with automatic signalling lights, etc. All of these measures and pursued more on a sustainable basis are likely to considerably improve the traffic mess in the city even before big infrastructures are built with the same objective. The government is understandably engaged at the moment with a comprehensive plan to augment power supply for the entire country. But considering the population concentration in Dhaka as well as its pivotal importance for industries and businesses, a short term special plan needs to be executed at the soonest for increasing power supply in the Dhaka area. Anwaruddin Chowdhury Lalmatia, Dhaka Wake up call for AL So far, the decision-makers in the ruling party have refused to listen to the public sentiments. Brushing aside of public opinions indicates their failure to read the writings on the wall. Are the adverse reactions from the following issues (only a few cited) not good enough for a wake up call for the Awami League? Humiliating Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus which led to national and international condemnation, tarnishing the image of the country abroad. Despite corruption allegation against a minister, which led to stoppage of a major development funding in the country, the decision to retain him raised the eyebrows of the entire nation putting the credibility of the country at stake. Undertaking expensive, unnecessary and fruitless foreign trips frequently, with hundreds of entourage along with family members, leaving the country reeling under innumerable acute problems is viewed by the countrymen with frustration. Lately, nominating a controversial person for a mayoral post even though dozens of cases remain against him, defying the local public opinion. He ultimately suffered a humiliating defeat but these are certainly negative signals which do not augur well for the AL. The public are more conscious now and no longer willing to vote for the party alone but only for individuals with clean and proven track records and the ability to serve the people. The party cadres and terrors are no longer the deciding factor in the election but it is the silent majority. This was proven in the past and has been proved again. It is time for the party to respond to the wake up call. Mohammad Ataul Hoque Email: mahoque07@gmail.com