The point, however, the development of a city should be equal in all four corners so to deter indiscriminate pressure falling in any particular part. The balanced development in four sides hasn’t happened in Dhaka because of biased and disorganised area specific development as per the thicker concentration of people, and also for hugely violating the city’s original master plan. It would not have had happened if our City Corporations not approved illegal designs and buildings to chaotically mushroom here and there. The hugely incompetent development of commercial and industrial areas in Dhaka is also responsible for frequent congestions. Rather surprisingly, Dhaka’s City Corporations, planners and developers have never shouldered the burden for their irresponsibility and dishonesty. They were never penalised for any corruption.
Are we to believe they are immune to all legal actions? As much as our City Corporations, our city planners and developers too, are also to be blamed for certain area specific developments for creating organised chaos in Dhaka.
For instance the population density in the North and in the South of the city is many times higher than to the Eastern and Western parts. Numbers of houses and apartments have rocketed in these parts whereas the Eastern part of the city still remains undeveloped entailed by fewer houses, very few government establishments and almost no industrialisation.
However, the time and scope for developing the Eastern part is still open.
It is right here where our city planners will have to focus to ease the existing pressure off from the capital’s Southern and Eastern parts. Adding extra roads and public transits would reduce traffic congestion, increase the connectivity to eastern Dhaka and improve the clogged communication systems with the rest of the city.
Not to forget, despite innumerable shortcomings, greater Dhaka still accounts for 20 percent of Bangladesh’s GDP. It continues to attract people from across the country for livelihoods, business expansion and other industrial activities. From now on, it is expected that our city developers plan their development projects at par with judicious and logical thinking so to clean and free Dhaka of manmade congestions.
