The capital city during Eid
Wednesday, 8 October 2008
FE Report
Every Eid, the Dhaka city has less of traffic and crowd on the streets. This year was no exception. The Dhaka city once again because comfortable on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr.
As more than six million people left the capital to celebrate the festival at their village homes the remaining city dwellers hardly came across any traffic jams on the streets, there were no power outrages or gas and water shortages during those few days.
Does it indicate the capital city's capacity to support people, which exceeds many times over normally. Is it possible to keep the city population within the limit? No one thinks so.
Dhaka, being the centre of all activities, attracts people from across the country with its opportunities. Among the migrant population, hawkers, rickshaw pullers and day labourers constitute a big number. These people rush to the capital finding no work in their villages.
The capital city also needs these people to provide various services to the city dwellers. But unregulated growth in the number of these people creates a problem overcrowding the capital city.
The increase in city population means higher consumption of electricity, gas and water, besides creating a pressure on housing, giving rise to slums. Pressure on utility services is obvious, leading to pilferages.
According to Dhaka Power Distribution Company (DPDC), per day the city's daily demand of electricity fell to 1000 to 1200 mw from around 1500 MW to 1850 MW during the holiday.
Water consumption also drastically fell from 2,000 million litres a day, to around 980 million litres during the five-day vacation, said Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA) sources.
For many city residents it was welcome change in the city life. They point out that the pressure on the utility services was a half of what it usually is.
The city experienced virtually no power failures, nor any gas or water shortages. There was no nighttime blackouts and no beggars. On the pavements pedestrians were not pushed by others.
"If only Dhaka was always like this," said Rawshan, taking a walk on the usually busy city street.
Taking a stroll with friends along a Banani sidewalk, a student said, we can reach anywhere now without hassles. And most of all no load shedding at home, he said.
One faced problem catching a bus to reach any destination. As many bus operators diverted their buses on long routes, it reduced the traffic jams. But rickshaw fare went up as there were less of them.
The government made the arrangement to put more private and public busses on long routes to facilitate the homebound journey of people. The bus operators also found it profitable than plying on empty Dhaka streets.
However, city dwellers complained of worries caused by a deterioration of city law and order. Despite government steps mugging. During the shopping spree troubled many city dwellers.
Every Eid, the Dhaka city has less of traffic and crowd on the streets. This year was no exception. The Dhaka city once again because comfortable on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr.
As more than six million people left the capital to celebrate the festival at their village homes the remaining city dwellers hardly came across any traffic jams on the streets, there were no power outrages or gas and water shortages during those few days.
Does it indicate the capital city's capacity to support people, which exceeds many times over normally. Is it possible to keep the city population within the limit? No one thinks so.
Dhaka, being the centre of all activities, attracts people from across the country with its opportunities. Among the migrant population, hawkers, rickshaw pullers and day labourers constitute a big number. These people rush to the capital finding no work in their villages.
The capital city also needs these people to provide various services to the city dwellers. But unregulated growth in the number of these people creates a problem overcrowding the capital city.
The increase in city population means higher consumption of electricity, gas and water, besides creating a pressure on housing, giving rise to slums. Pressure on utility services is obvious, leading to pilferages.
According to Dhaka Power Distribution Company (DPDC), per day the city's daily demand of electricity fell to 1000 to 1200 mw from around 1500 MW to 1850 MW during the holiday.
Water consumption also drastically fell from 2,000 million litres a day, to around 980 million litres during the five-day vacation, said Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA) sources.
For many city residents it was welcome change in the city life. They point out that the pressure on the utility services was a half of what it usually is.
The city experienced virtually no power failures, nor any gas or water shortages. There was no nighttime blackouts and no beggars. On the pavements pedestrians were not pushed by others.
"If only Dhaka was always like this," said Rawshan, taking a walk on the usually busy city street.
Taking a stroll with friends along a Banani sidewalk, a student said, we can reach anywhere now without hassles. And most of all no load shedding at home, he said.
One faced problem catching a bus to reach any destination. As many bus operators diverted their buses on long routes, it reduced the traffic jams. But rickshaw fare went up as there were less of them.
The government made the arrangement to put more private and public busses on long routes to facilitate the homebound journey of people. The bus operators also found it profitable than plying on empty Dhaka streets.
However, city dwellers complained of worries caused by a deterioration of city law and order. Despite government steps mugging. During the shopping spree troubled many city dwellers.