Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, ruling Awami League mayor candidate for Dhaka South City Corporation, pledges to ensure civic services for the DSCC people within the first 90 days of him being elected.

In a recent interview with The Daily Star at his Dhanmondi election office, Taposh, who resigned as lawmaker from Dhaka-10 to run for mayor, explained what he would do for the DSCC dwellers. 

Taposh, a barrister and a Supreme Court lawyer by profession, said if elected, the door of the DSCC office would remain open 24/7 to provide the city people with services.  

The AL mayor candidate said he would restore panchayat system, a type of dispute resolution outside the court, in DSCC for conflict resolutions.   

Taposh said he divided his plan into five sections -- heritage Dhaka, beautiful Dhaka, mobile Dhaka, good governance Dhaka, and developed Dhaka. 

To achieve his goal, he has short-, mid- and long-term plans, said Taposh. “I have a 30-year plan for the DSCC to make it beautiful and more liveable.” 

“The heritage and pride of Dhaka has faded away. I want to present Dhaka [DSCC] before the world after reviving its pride and heritage,” he added. 

He said once Dhaka was a beautiful city with full of greenery, and there was no air pollution. 

“When we fly over the Dhaka city, we just see buildings after buildings with almost no sign of greenery. This city does not have enough and modern playgrounds for children’s amusement,” Taposh said.  

“If elected, I will take initiatives to build adequate number of modern playgrounds.”  

The AL mayor candidate said he would improve the city’s traffic system. Working people, especially women, were always worried about when they would be able to reach work due to traffic jams. They were also concerned about their safety on roads.  

About his plan of Buriganga revival, Taposh said, “I have a mega plan in this regard, and people will be able to ride in horse carriages again around the river.”  

Pointing to people’s sufferings caused by frequent road and footpath digging, Taposh said he would follow guidelines strictly in this regard so that different government organisations could not dig the city streets whenever they wanted.  

“They will have to work on the streets in coordination with the city corporation. They will have to take permission from the city corporation for digging into a city street.

“Besides, the city corporation will set a deadline for the respective government organisation to complete the work. After that, no one will be allowed to dig that street again in the next three years,” said the AL mayor candidate.  

On waste management, Taposh said if he became mayor, he would not keep any open waste bin by the side of the roads, and the city’s waste management would be brought under a disciplined system. “Cleaning of the city’s waste continues for round the clock.”  

Taposh said footpaths would be freed from hawkers gradually and they would be rehabilitated. He had a mega plan to this end.  

He said he would make it easy for the city dwellers to get various civic amenities, including birth and death certificates. 

About his plan to build a woman- and child-friendly Dhaka city, Taposh said he would install adequate CCTVs at different places and set up a control centre at the DSCC office to monitor those.  

“I will also make arrangements for setting up adequate street lights in the DSCC.”  

Taposh said there would be different types of streets in DSCC. Some streets would be dedicated to high-speed vehicles, some to slow-moving vehicles, some to horse carriages, and some for walking only. 

The AL mayor candidate said he hoped voters would elect him as an honest and competent candidate to serve the DSCC people.     

Taposh, son of Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni and Begum Arzu Moni who were assassinated in August 15, 1975, by a group of disgruntled army personnel, was elected lawmaker from Dhaka-10 in 2008, 2014, and 2018 with AL ticket.