Dhaka’s overpopulation problem

According to a recent study, about 57 percent of Dhaka dwellers would have gone to villages had there been employment opportunities and basic civic facilities. The study also showed the top five problems identified by city dwellers are traffic congestion, air pollution, waterlogging, lack of safe drinking water and poor road conditions.

When a city is as densely populated as Dhaka, these problems are bound to surface, particularly because of the intense pressure that overpopulation exerts on the city. We have now reached a point where no amount of infrastructure can support a population this big. Which is why, other regions of our country should be developed more in order to not only discourage further migration to Dhaka, but to also encourage the people who would rather live in their home towns, if given the opportunity.

Vanulal Debnath, Dhaka