Through
the Windscreen
Imran H. Khan
Gulshan,
once known to be a posh residential area, with mostly foreign
and diplomatic residents and embassies, has transformed
into an ugly concrete jungle and a commuter's worst nightmare.
WHen
it comes to 'class', Gulshan 'was' one locality that had
it all. I put it in past tense as the word class finds no
place in the present Gulshan scenario anymore. Known as
the posh neighbourhood of the city, Gulshan has rapidly
been invaded by indiscriminate construction of high-rises
and germination of commercial organisations. As the Agents
in Matrix term humans as 'virus', urbanisation seems to
be the epidemic that is plaguing our beloved city. The sophisticated
fairy-tale houses and quiet alleys have been replaced by
traffic infested roads choking with open garbage dumps.
If
we turn back the time, we will see that Gulshan (and Baridhara
for that matter), was supposed to be used for offices and
embassies of diplomatic missions. As most of the peaceful
residential areas, these places too have been sacrificed
to make way for banks, clinics, schools and HQ to many other
commercial concerns. Pretty soon, it will all become a concrete
jungle.
Greek
Houses may fit perfectly into the common scenario in Greece
but when a colossal structure representing a mansion from
Greece is replicated in Dhaka, the result could be quite
an eye-sore. Where there were once houses with lawns and
lush greenery, there is now concrete grey and drab looking
apartment complexes. All the previous plans and dreams for
Gulshan are now in the past, only to be looked back with
nostalgia.
The
Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) must have been on vacation
while the floor plans for the drainage system of Gulshan
2 were being made because each and every year, right about
the monsoon time, this place is heavily hit with a torrent
of rainfall creating miniature floods. It is one thing to
have a poetic affiliation with rain but quite another to
have the vilest of raw sewage floating Around your ankles
and to be forced to withstand the smell of long decomposed
feces. Nonetheless, the water usually disappear within an
hour or two, leaving behind thick sticky mud pies on the
road, all ready for the speeding and screeching tires to
generously bombard the pedestrians with. The potholes too
that have been left unattended only add to this pleasant(?)
scene. Maybe Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) hopes that there
will be an earthquake that will shake all the odd pieces
of the puzzle (I mean rubble) into place.
As
most of the houses of Gulshan 2 have pretty high foundations,
the roads in between the houses end up as basins for all
the excess water. This water has no place to go because
the authorities were a little short on pipes that may lead
the water out. We are only humans after all, susceptible
to making mistakes and then unwittingly (?) repeat them.
The
government has been quite ingenious in their intentions
to reduce traffic in these areas by not allowing rickshaws
in certain roads at certain time slots. What they failed
to recognise is that a Pajero V8 or a Lexus Jeep for that
matter is much larger in size and is usually driven by some
maniac who might fail when it came to even driving the rickshaw.
Also falling under this category are Cab drivers. Driving
with the 'I'm the king of the World' motto, these lunatics
usually enjoy the traffic and the bad road conditions and
sometimes can be seen having their own 'Formula 1' race.
An
ever expanding English Medium school has recently opened
its Playgroup or Kindergarten section in Gulshan 2's Road
55. There are now constant jams, with endless traffic starting
from the school all the way up to Gulshan Club, which has
been quite 'smart' by taking over the road in front and
turning it into its parking. This ties another knot in the
long twisted line of problems.
While
crossing the bridge over the Banani Lake, one can't help
but wonder where all the wires come from, hanging loosely
over the footpath, hanging dangerously at the level of one's
head. Digging up the sides of the streets have not been
enough for the DCC. Recently, they have been found digging
up the footpaths. Now, people can be seen being forced into
an army training ground, carefully avoiding certain chances
of electrocution from above and adding the fancy foot works
with the potholes on the pavements. The amra wallas on the
bridge must sometimes have a ball watching the people lead
their 'normal' everyday life.
Even
though the developers try hard to make their brick and sand
piles by the road merge with the scenery, we have been blessed
with the magic of sight that simply tells us that everything
about the modern Gulshan scenario …is wrong. It won't be
long before we lose Gulshan to the grips of this urbanisation
epidemic, which is always out to wreck havoc with our peaceful
existence.
Photo
by Imran H. Khan
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