Dhaka's double peril

Photo: A.M. Ahad/ Drik news

By a straight count, Dhaka is behind London by more than 150 years on livability index. During the mid-nineteenth century, it was Dirty Thames for London it is stinking Buriganga for Dhaka now.
Percy B. Shelley (1792-1822), the romantic poet unromantically said: "Hell is much like London, a populous and a smoky city."
But what was a throwback for the present-day London, is a throw-forward for Dhaka, in a manner of speaking.
Our capital city then used to be as idyllic as Venice, and actually dubbed so, by virtue of its free-flowing beautiful waterways. The fortunes have reversed: Whilst the once-repelling Thames had had a major cleanup operation in good time to freshen up; one and a half century on, Dhaka gasps for a breath of fresh air.
The story about the Thames, the lifeline of British commerce, goes like this: In 1848, "the Metropolis Sewers Commission mandated cesspools and house drains be connected to sewers, which emptied, unfiltered, into the River Thames. This worsened the problem and affectively turned London's main waterway in to an open sewer."
An interesting tale related how the then British Prime Minister Gladstone (1809-1898) when ambling across to the House of Commons library overlooking the stinking Thames had to press his handkerchief tightly with his nose to ward off the obnoxious odour. At once, he ordered a complete overhaul of the London drainage non-system, so to speak. In fact, the British Parliament had to be prorogued as experts worked at length and got the river to rid itself of the stench.
Nothing short of such a fired up political will can deliver Dhaka from the clutches of polluted hell and land-grabbers paradise that Buriganga, Balu, Turag and Sitalakkhya have become.
On rivers, just as there are High Court directives, there are stay orders, too. Manipulated land documentation has been a curse to be sure. After unsustained demolition drives and apologetic attempts at demarcation of riverbanks giving leeway to the grabbers and polluters, public interest is trampled. In the process, media and environmentalists campaign for saving Dhaka's lifelines has come face-to-face with its moment of truth. Vested interests, corrupt officials and political cadres go about their singsong handholding as though in a mutually complimentary and supportive society.
When perchance a flicker glimmers that will be short lived. The case in point is Muhammad Munir Chowdhury, the evidently effective enforcement director of the DoE since transferred out. He could not complete his term of three years, in spite (or shall we say) because of, the public and environmentalists demanding his continuation on the job. For, he had provoked the wrath of powerful conglomerates. He reclaimed 300 acres of hills, forest and river land, evicted over 250 illegal brick fields, saved and impelled 300 industries to set up affluent treatment plants. What should have earned him a reward has ended up being his unceremonious exit to Milk Vita.
One wonders, what would have Dhaka looked like to John Gunther if he ever visited the city. For, he was graphic in his description of Addis Ababa (in Ethiopia) looking "as if it had been dragged piecemeal from an aeroplane carrying rubbish."
Dhaka distinguishes itself being jam-packed as though serpentine endless tailbacks have been frozen as a still photograph. This then leads us to the impossible depressive problem of traffic congestions.
The built-up Dhaka is even worse with no breathing space, little greens and uncleared garbage. It is coming to a point where a single appointment out of office can take up a big chunk of time which amounts to money being lost, energy sapped and cynicism sinking in. Overall, a very unhealthy feeling.
Even a pleasurable occasion like attending a marriage ceremony or a drama, or a mandatory courtesy call, or taking part in seminar becomes sufferance and hardship. The elderly are advised to carry aspirin on the road; medical emergencies can and do arise; and even the ambulances cannot make it to hospitals in good time for medical attention.
The simple forward-looking approach is not to treat ourselves as part of the problem but see the potential of our being part of the solution. One to two thousand people trek to Dhaka city and some two hundred new vehicles come on the road everyday!
Political parties bring out processions, hold meetings, let alone VVIP movements shutting off arterial thoroughfares. So there is a need for leading the way from the top.
The problem is known and the contributors to traffic jam are clearly identified, including rickshaws which cause 66% of the traffic jams with one million on the road. Of these, only 0.2 million are registered.
Recipes like developing growth epicentres to trigger a reverse migration, applying a cap on transport licensing (linking vehicles to number of passengers carried per family), parking lots at the outskirts of the city, having a mass transit system, charging toll on private transports insisting on entry to the city like in London, have been in the air for long.
The crisis is in the overlapping between major and minor, issues and non-issues, prioritisation and marginalisation; the whole lot of concepts that brings progress to a screeching halt.
Some statistics should be eye openers. Tick these off and you have a picture of denial and loss. Former MCCI president Anis Ud Dowla at a seminar with former home minister Shahara Khatun revealed study estimates that are simply overwhelming. "Of the Tk 19,555 crore (nearly $3 billion) financial loss, wasted time on the streets accounts for nearly Tk 11,896 crore followed by environmental cost Tk 2,200 crore and business loss of passenger transport and freight industries Tk 2,000 crore each. Excess fuel (at the rate of CNG price) eats up Tk 575 crore and accidents Tk 50 crore. To top these up, 3.2 million business hours are lost everyday."
A city that contributes anything between 20 and 30% of the country's Gross Domestic Product worth nearly $100 billion deserves much better. Say, which investor will feel encouraged to invest in Bangladesh knowing that the travel time between its premier airport and hotels in the city is equal to an air trip from Delhi to Dhaka or more?
Dhaka really needs to be upgraded, more livable and worthy of investment. We are in a race with time.

The writer is Associate Editor, The Daily Star.
E-mail: [email protected]