Dhaka not sustaining as a healthy city: Decentralisation is the solution
19 April 2023
Decentralisation
is key to making Dhaka a livable city. For quite a long time - several
decades - the necessity of Dhaka's centralisation has been in the
discussion in this world's most densely populated country. But up until
now it has remained only in discussion; no visible efforts have been
made in that direction. As a result, Dhaka's population has been rising
phenomenally with the concomitant problems like traffic congestion and
pollution of all kinds as the most common byproducts of ongoing
development activities in Dhaka. The city is ever growing as an
unhealthy place.
No system can function effectively if a city like
Dhaka contains more than two crore people with its limited resources.
People from various parts of the country flock to Dhaka mainly for
livelihood purposes in absence of availability of livelihood means in
their localities. Though the lower income group of people come here
temporarily, their presence always creates a huge pressure on the city.
More
importantly, everything such as administration, judiciary, major and
specialised hospitals, educational centres, businesses are centralised
in Dhaka. The headquarters of three forces are also located in Dhaka. In
this season of Eid within a few days, when most people will leave Dhaka
to celebrate Eid and the city will give a deserted look, one can fairly
assume how many people have come to Dhaka for livelihood means and
other purposes.
If there were alternative cities to Dhaka, people
would not have to come here. Therefore, we must say the plan of
developing Bangladesh has been a faulty one right from the beginning for
which Dhaka's sustainability as a livable city has become a big
challenge. Can anyone think how could businesses speed up when the
average traffic speed is close to 6km per hour in the capital? How many
working hours of people are lost each day? It has been rightly pointed
out by an economist that Dhaka is not only the capital of the country
but also its powerhouse.
For decentralisation of Dhaka city,
Bangladesh needs to develop several more important cities including the
port city of Chattogram. Dhaka's dominance will not decline without
administrative decentralisation, even if infrastructure facilities are
built outside this city; but for this, a strong political will is
necessary. If Bangladesh's overall development is the goal, politics has
to rise above its narrow interest and start decentralising Dhaka as a
top priority. The capital city will expand with time, but if this
expansion is not planned, it will turn into a place of urban chaos.
