Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor, Atiqul Islam, says the glory of ancient Dhaka city has been lost, for which, we ourselves are responsible. The Mayor went on to add that we have to overcome many challenges to retrieve the lost grandeur of the capital. The DNCC mayor opined, the city dwellers will have to own the city and love it from the core of their hearts. Reducing water logging and traffic jam, keeping the city clean and freeing the footpaths are the main among the challenges, the Mayor said in an exclusive interview with Bangladesh Post in his office on Monday.
In the interview with Bangladesh Post correspondent Kailash Sarker, DNCC Mayor Atiqul Islamsaid that it is possible to turn Dhaka city into Tilottoma (beautiful) Dhaka, but it needs proper planning and coordination among the agencies concerned.
Bangladesh Post (BP): As the mayor of a city corporation in the capital, please say something about Dhaka.
DNCC Mayor: Dhaka is one of the ancient cities in the world. As the capital, once it was our pride. But, our pride has been lost for various reasons. Now our main challenge is to recover the lost pride and revive its lost heritage. We also have taken up the challenge, because we love Dhaka city very much. But there some differences in this love. One of them is that we love the city from the core of our heart while another is just through words.
Many of us, who are powerful, construct shops, buildings and other establishments by blocking drains, occupying roads and footpaths and even canals. Besides, there are many people to collect dust from every house, many others are engaged in keeping the city clean.
Many dustbins are also set up at different specific places, but we do not use them. We put dirt here and there. These types of activities are unexpected. If we love the city truly, we have to obey the rules. It is not possible to make everything of the capital with the law-enforcing agencies, like police or others.
People of different countries and cities, including Kolkata in India, have also changed themselves. But we could not change ourselves. So, I think who will own the Dhaka city and love it from the core of their heart, will be a good citizen of the capital.
BP: There is an old chant about making Dhaka a Tilottoma city. Is this really possible?
DNCC Mayor: We are very positive and hopeful of it. We could never think that hundreds of establishments would be constructed on both the sides of rivers surrounding the capital as well as along the canals located inside the city. But, it is true that those structures have been demolished. Almost all the illegal structures have been demolished.
BP: What is or are the main challenge or challenges in this time and under these circumstances?
DNCC Mayor: There are many things, which are our main challenges. Of them, reducing the water logging and traffic jam, keeping the city clean and freeing footpaths from illegal occupations are the main challenges.
BP: What about the water logging problem?
DNCC Mayor: This problem is our own problem and created by ourselves. We have constructed various types of establishments blocking the drains.
You should know, there are 36 canals inside the city. Projects have been taken to recover 24 of the canals. All the illegal structures constructed besides the canals or occupying them will be demolished. Water flow will be created by recovering those canals. As part of the new projects, modernised drainage system will be created and drain water will flow into the canals and water from the canals will flow into the rivers.
BP: When water stagnancy is a major problem, almost all the agencies are used to digging or repairing roads during the rainy season. Road digging during the rainy season adds miseries to the commuters, transports and almost all the city dwellers.
DNCC Mayor: You are very much right. It is really a problem and reason for the miseries to the people. But there are some technical problems. Soon after we had completed about 1200 kilometers of the city roads, different agencies concerned sent us letters for permission for digging 80 more kilometers of the city roads. I asked them about it, and they replied that these projects are funded by the World Bank (WB) and the Asian Development Board (ADB). They informed that unless they did not dig those roads, the WB and ADB would cancel the projects.
They said they could dig the roads when they received the money.
BP: Is it possible to change or defer the timing of road digging through discussion with those agencies?
DNCC Mayor: It is not so easy. It requires planning and coordination so that road digging and all other projects can be executed in planned ways. It is also a big challenge.
BP: Is it possible to reduce traffic jam?
DNCC Mayor: Traffic jam is another major problem and the cause of sufferings to us. To reduce traffic jam, we have to find out various theories to get relief from this type of sufferings. We have to think otherwise. There is competition among the bus owners. If it is possible to bring all the buses under some six to seven companies. This process is already started by Sayed Khokan, the mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation. We are also getting prepared for it.
BP: When we have only 8 percent road space, a large portion of it cannot be used for illegal parking or occupation.
DNCC Mayor: We, in association with police are trying seriously so that roads remain free for transport movement.
BP: Movement of rickshaws has been banned on various specific roads and city dwellers have been advised to get habituated to walking. But the condition of footpaths is not good. Moreover, most of the footpaths remain occupied by the hawkers and vendors or different other quarters.
DNCC Mayor: We are trying to emphasize the usage of footpaths. We are engaging magistrates and mobile courts to keep the footpaths free from hawkers and illegal occupiers so that pedestrians can use them. We are very serious so that no shops could be set up on the footpaths. We have demanded six new magistrates only for footpath purposes.
BP: Footover bridges are constructed for the welfare of the city dwellers. But there are some footover bridges, which are obstructing pedestrians from walking on the footpaths. Pillars of those footover bridges have been set up on the footpaths.
DNCC Mayor: I have observed it through newspapers. It is true in some cases. We are considering the matter and thinking about it. We are thinking of changing the designs of those footover bridges. We must think so that footover bridges do not obstruct pedestrian movement.
BP: Many flyovers have been constructed which have added road space and created alternative ways for vehicular movement. But some roads under different flyovers, like the Mayor Mohammad Hanif Flyover, are not being used properly.
DNCC Mayor: We have to use all the roads and flyovers as per the demand.
BP: The City corporations have many community centres, but many of those are not being used for the purposes for which they were constructed. Many of the community centres are occupied by RAB, police and different other agencies.
DNCC Mayor: All the community centres should be used to facilitate the city people. Community centres in Uttara are being used by the city people at a lower cost. A lot of people are using them. But all the city wards do not have community centres.
BP: City corporations have many play grounds and parks in different ward areas, where music schools, libraries and gymnasiums also exist. But many of the playgrounds and parks are being used for other purposes. Some of them are occupied illegally while existing music schools, libraries and gymnasiums are not working properly.
DNCC Mayor: You should know, we have recovered 24 playgrounds, which had been occupied illegally by different quarters. I have turned all those 24 playgrounds into parks.
BP: City corporations are used to monitor the market prices. But are you satisfied with the activities?
DNCC Mayor: We are taking a new initiative for market price monitoring. Digital board will be set up for market price monitoring.
BP: There are not adequate number of sheds and shelters for pedestrians or commuters. The insufficient number of passenger sheds of shelter centers adds miseries to the city dwellers during the rainy season or sunny days.
DNCC Mayor: You have raised a very much important issue. It is a major need for the city commuters. Though there are many passenger sheds, those are not sufficient. We are taking measures for the construction of more passenger sheds so that city commuters can take shelter from rain or sun.
BP: Some of the passenger sheds remain occupied by the hawkers while some others are being used as food shops instead of for the commuters.
DNCC Mayor: Measures will be taken through checking the information.
BP: Thank you for your precious time.
DNCC Mayor: Thank you too.