Children would be the worst sufferers
Findings of a study jointly conducted by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and two other organisations show that approximately 43 percent of the country's total population, that is around 81 million people, would be living in the urban areas by 2029. This will certainly degrade the living standards of city dwellers who are already living in poor conditions.
Needless to say, this huge population will find their place in urban slums and many of them will have to live on the streets. Most of the women would have to work as domestic help or as garment workers whose children would end up living in an unsafe environment. As the study has found, 93 percent of children in the slum areas are involved in child labour, and eight in 10 children aged between one and 14 have experienced psychological aggression or physical punishment.
As grim as the picture might seem, there is still a lot that we can do. As more and more people come to the cities in search of a better livelihood, the government must plan and design the cities in a way that would ensure better living conditions for them. That means our urbanisation process must be more resilient and child-friendly. At the same time, the government must create work opportunities for people in the rural areas and provide them with all modern facilities in order to encourage them to live in their villages.
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