Planned actions to save Dhaka

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I was happy to read the opinion published in your daily some time ago. The contributor wrote in that piece that Dhaka's case is not a hopeless one. The turnaround of Dhaka, according to him, is a possibility.
Indeed, the time to act and act decisively to regenerate Dhaka was crossed long ago. But with the launching of immediate corrective actions, it should be possible to stop the city from heading towards the brink and start a process of its renewal or revival. This is possible provided there is enough political resolve and vision to work towards this end.
According to the pessimists, conditions in Dhaka city are incapable of a reversal. But this view is not tenable. Wherever the problems of the city were sought to be addressed with real determination, the same yielded positive results in varying degrees. Thus, there is no reason to feel so defeated and dejected from a feeling that Dhaka's problems are unsolvable.
Other Asian cities like Bangkok faced similar great difficulties in areas ranging from managing traffic movement to stopping the proliferation of slums. But planned actions, taken by governmental authorities in those countries, led, first, to putting a brake on the process of decline, followed by a gradual process of regeneration.
Dhaka needs to work its way out to such a state with planned and uncompromising actions over a period of time.

Shabbir Karim
Dhanmondi RA, Dhaka