Planned satellite towns
Friday, 8 January 2010
PRIME Minister Sheikh Hasina while speaking at a function in Dhaka early this week said her government planned to build four satellite towns around the capital city. The main reason for the government taking up such a plan does not need any elaboration. The capital city has become unlivable because of the mounting population pressure and its consequent effects on its transport system, utility services, law and order etc. From morning to midnight, the roads remain clogged with vehicles and a journey from far off city areas like Uttara, Mirpur to the downtown Dhaka takes more than a couple of hours. At the vantage points of the city, it is also hard to walk through over-crowded pavements.
The utility service providers in the capital are failing to meet the ever-increasing demand for water, power and gas. The drainage and sewerage system is very ineffective. One-third of the population of the city lives in slums and leads a sub-human life. Most crowded cities across the world are crime prone and Dhaka is no exception. With its manpower and logistics remaining well below the requirement, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has been finding it hard to contain crimes and criminals in a city having an estimated population of over 15 million.
Uttara was originally modeled as a satellite town. But it has lost all the characters of a satellite town since the main city has been extended beyond it. The Rajdhani Unnyan Kartipakha (RAJUK) is now developing another satellite town, named, Purbachal. It is imperative to build more such towns around the capital to help lessen the unabated population pressure on the capital city that is viewed as the only provider of the best possible facilities of life and the key decision-making center. Unless and until the decision-making power is decentralised and ample employment opportunities are created across the country, the people from rural and other urban centers would continue to come to the capital city. Equally important task on the part of the government would be building institutions to offer quality education at secondary and tertiary levels. Hundreds of families migrate from other towns and cities to Dhaka every year just to ensure better education for their children.
The government may use its own land or acquire others' land to build the proposed satellite towns. But the fact remains that the towns would eat up a vast tract of valuable land. So, it needs to be seen that the land is used optimally and the proposed towns meet the principal objective of lessening pressure on the capital city. However, to achieve that objective the future satellite towns need to have all the facilities. It could be that many city residents would prefer living in the proposed towns to staying in a suffocating city. But, at the same time, they might be unwilling to move out because of the collapsing traffic system. There should not be any valid reason for them to become enthusiastic about living in new satellite towns if it takes three to four hours to reach their workplaces in the city. So, the development of an efficient transport system within the capital city and its adjoining areas should be the number one priority for the government. Otherwise, it would be simply putting the cart before the horse.
What is more important is that the government should try to address the basic issues responsible for unabated migration of people to the capital city. If the government remains faithful to Article 19 of the country's Constitution and works accordingly, the number of migrants is bound to come down. The Article makes it mandatory for the state to ensure equality of opportunity to all citizens and uniform level of development throughout the republic.
The utility service providers in the capital are failing to meet the ever-increasing demand for water, power and gas. The drainage and sewerage system is very ineffective. One-third of the population of the city lives in slums and leads a sub-human life. Most crowded cities across the world are crime prone and Dhaka is no exception. With its manpower and logistics remaining well below the requirement, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has been finding it hard to contain crimes and criminals in a city having an estimated population of over 15 million.
Uttara was originally modeled as a satellite town. But it has lost all the characters of a satellite town since the main city has been extended beyond it. The Rajdhani Unnyan Kartipakha (RAJUK) is now developing another satellite town, named, Purbachal. It is imperative to build more such towns around the capital to help lessen the unabated population pressure on the capital city that is viewed as the only provider of the best possible facilities of life and the key decision-making center. Unless and until the decision-making power is decentralised and ample employment opportunities are created across the country, the people from rural and other urban centers would continue to come to the capital city. Equally important task on the part of the government would be building institutions to offer quality education at secondary and tertiary levels. Hundreds of families migrate from other towns and cities to Dhaka every year just to ensure better education for their children.
The government may use its own land or acquire others' land to build the proposed satellite towns. But the fact remains that the towns would eat up a vast tract of valuable land. So, it needs to be seen that the land is used optimally and the proposed towns meet the principal objective of lessening pressure on the capital city. However, to achieve that objective the future satellite towns need to have all the facilities. It could be that many city residents would prefer living in the proposed towns to staying in a suffocating city. But, at the same time, they might be unwilling to move out because of the collapsing traffic system. There should not be any valid reason for them to become enthusiastic about living in new satellite towns if it takes three to four hours to reach their workplaces in the city. So, the development of an efficient transport system within the capital city and its adjoining areas should be the number one priority for the government. Otherwise, it would be simply putting the cart before the horse.
What is more important is that the government should try to address the basic issues responsible for unabated migration of people to the capital city. If the government remains faithful to Article 19 of the country's Constitution and works accordingly, the number of migrants is bound to come down. The Article makes it mandatory for the state to ensure equality of opportunity to all citizens and uniform level of development throughout the republic.