Dhaka to turn into a failed city soon: JP

Staff Correspondent: Dhaka would soon turn into a dysfunctional city owing to unbearable traffic congestion, mismanagement and a lack of coordination among government agencies concerned, Jatiya Party MP Pir Fazlur Rahman said yesterday.
“The Dhaka city has become unliveable. The city is now number one in noise pollution. It is also at a top position in air pollution,” he expressed his concerns while speaking on a point-of-order in parliament.
“It is doubtful whether those who now live in Dhaka city will be able to reach their desired destinations by noon after getting out in the morning due to traffic congestion,” he added.
Citing a study, the lawmaker from Sunamganj-4 said the country is losing 2.5% of its GDP, amounting to around Tk 87,000 crore, due to the traffic congestion in the capital.
Referring to another study, he said Dhaka’s excessive expansion is severely hurting the urban development overall. Dhaka hosts most people living in urban areas. Some 31.9% of the country’s population live in major cities and 12.2% live in Dhaka alone. There are only five cities in the country with a population of 10 lakh each.

Pir Fazlur Rahman said unplanned development work goes on amid traffic jams and the constant suffering of people. There is no coordination among ministries.

“A ministry cuts a road and after a few days, the same road is cut again by another. This work is being done without any coordination, causing severe traffic jams in the city,” he added.

Noting that people’s performance is declining due to this, he said that if a person cannot go to work with peace of mind then how they will work in that workplace.

“We are turning this city into a slum in the name of development. It’s not a good development,” said the JP lawmaker.

“Traffic jams have now reached the level of anarchy. No one cares about where buses stop. To get passengers, they stop abruptly chocking roads. If this continues, Dhaka will become a failed city shortly,” he added.

Meanwhile, in a point-of-order, Jatiya Party deputy Md Rustum Ali Faraji called for government recognition of schools for the disabled and teachers’ salaries and other benefits.

Lutfun Nesa Khan, a lawmaker from a reserved women’s seat, also called for strengthening the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority to ensure unadulterated food. She demanded that the authorities recruit the required manpower.