During monsoon in the recent years, a waterlogged Chittagong makes front-page news almost routinely. That life in this otherwise attractive metropolis will grind to a halt due to submerged roads and inundated low-lying areas was once unthinkable. Chittagong was famed for its effective drainage and other age-old rainwater-passing facilities. The scourge of waterlogging has been in the making for a considerable period of time thanks to the encroachment on water bodies, canals and drains.
As the new elected mayor of Chittagong City Corporation took office on July 27, the formidable challenge of fighting waterlogging awaited him, albeit menacingly. The yearly hazard has of late turned out to be the misery of Chittagong. The new mayor, however, has promised to address the problem in the shortest possible time. People in the city eagerly hope that the mayoral promise will not remain confined to being a routinely expressed desire like in the past.
Water-logging apart, Chittagong is fast being overwhelmed by urban problems it has not gone through before. In some respects, the metropolis resembles Dhaka. Like in the capital, its population is on fast increase; civic amenities do not reach people properly, urban menaces such as traffic gridlock, road mishaps, burgeoning floating people and shanties threaten to spiral out of control. What alarms its residents the most nowadays is its nosediving law and order. The city dwellers are virtually held hostage to extortion, mugging, robberies and scores of other crimes.
Many senior citizens in Chittagong, a city laced by the Bay of Bengal, turn nostalgic as they recall the golden days of the place. Not long ago, it was regarded as one of the nicest cities both panoramically and hygienically in the Indian sub-continent. Travellers from abroad would feel tempted to compare Chittagong with India's Goa, Bangalore or Pune. Since its earliest times, the city has been enjoying the status of a large resort town. Until recently, it had the distinctive identity as a place offering healthy living.
To the utter sadness of its elderly inhabitants, the romance of Chittagong is fast evaporating. The uncanny void is being filled with urban squalor and chaos. Except the topographical uniqueness distinguishing it, with regard to urban vibe, Chittagong these days is not much different from Dhaka. Diehard Chittagong lovers, however, will be tempted to draw a line between the two metropolises. Despite the rapid decline in the quality of urban life in Chittagong, the city still holds the potential for regaining its past glory. A great advantage of the city is its smaller population compared to Dhaka.
The speed at which the beauty and charm of Chittagong have been fading over the last one and half decades is stunning, though. Our second-largest city, also called port city, all of a sudden began showing signs of age. Long gone is its idyllic view. The charm of the city once comprised lush green hills, neatly planned roads, thin traffic, a small number of people on roads and low-height buildings --- not to speak of the calm beach at Patenga. Even the ever-bustling port area once had its distinctive beauty. Except the business centre in Khatunganj, the whole city used to exude an unspoiled placidity which nature has blessed it with.
As days wore on, the landmark features of the city's scenic richness began to be stained. People from the adjoining districts, and also from some far-away areas rushed to Chittagong in search of livelihood. Besides, many people moved to Chittagong finding Dhaka overflowing. With its seaport fast gaining national importance after the country's independence in 1971, people related to trade increased their activities in the city. Lately, transshipment of Indian imports through the premier port has added to its briskness. All this has considerably increased the urban din of Chittagong.
Many disillusioned residents of the port city have started calling it a prematurely dying and dysfunctional metropolis. These observations stem from deep frustration. The general people residing in the city instantly point the finger at a plethora of problems long besetting their lives. Haphazard construction of residential and office buildings defying the National Building Code, violation of traffic rules and reckless driving leading to road accidents, hill-flattening by land grabbers prompting landslides are but a few such woes of today's Chittagong. Although the extent of air pollution caused by the exhaust fumes of running vehicles in the port city is less severe than Dhaka, pollutants released by the large industrial complexes pose a great threat to public health. Meanwhile, how long the river Karnaphuli flowing by the city would remain free of encroachers is anybody's guess. Already pollution has started affecting the river waters thanks to the release of untreated industrial wastes into it. Effluents from two power plants, a paper mill and a fertiliser factory have resulted in wide-scale contamination of the Karnaphuli waters. Large portions of the Chaktai and other canals linked to the river have been filled by the vested interests. Attempts to reclaim the water channels have failed time and again.
Long before the arrival of Muslim saints and preachers of Islam in Bengal, Arab merchants had reached the Chittagong coast. Their maritime trade activities in the area began as early as 8th century with some settling down there. Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta visited Chittagong in 1443. Arabs used to call the port 'Shetgang'. In the following periods Chittagong came to be known as Porto Grande De Bengala (in Portuguese), and Islamabad during the Mughal rule.
In the later part of the British rule, Chittagong attained enormous importance as a major trade hub of Bengal, drawing merchants from across the world. It was during this period that the port earned the sobriquet of the 'gateway to Bengal', like the one enjoyed by Mumbai much later. The British-made Gateway of India is located in this western Indian city. Due to its location, the Chittagong port kept enjoying the status of a fast-growing trade centre after the British left the sub-continent. The march of the seaport has not stopped. In both the post-Second World War and post-Cold War eras, global sea trade experienced a kind of resurgence, so did the ports. Chittagong was one of them. The country's south-eastern maritime port and the adjoining city had, however, undergone a massive overhaul in independent Bangladesh. In the 21st century, with connectivity between the Asian nations receiving wider focus like in other regions, the port city of Chittagong is getting increasing importance. In the proposed Asian inter-country railway and road communications, Chittagong has been singled out alongside the region's other cities.
These prospects cannot be undermined. Halcyon days await Chittagong. The port city's rising importance stems from its geographically critical location. Although it resembles Dhaka in some respects of urban life, they have both major and subtle differences. Thanks to its coastline and the hilly landscape, Chittagong has the potential for growing into an ideal metropolis. But weak performance of the successive city corporation and other authorities, as well as the insensitivity of a section of city dwellers, is throttling the city's possibilities. On many counts, Chittagong has the same tale as Dhaka.
shihabskr@ymail.com
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