Every now and then newspapers report highlighting the poor healthcare facilities in rapidly growing towns and cities in Bangladesh that include insufficient water supply, sanitation and measures to check environmental pollution. These findings enumerated in Bangladesh Health Watch Report (BHWR)-2014, showed the fact that Bangladesh is going to be an urban-based country by 2039 but the rich-poor gap is only widening in the urban areas with the people living in the slums facing ever growing setback in basic amenities.
Survey data indicate that only 36.3 percent urban slum dwellers are having secured food supply as against 52.4 percent in rural areas. It means the poor are better off in rural areas. The study titled “Urban Health Scenario: Looking Beyond 2015” has data that showed approximately 30 to 45 percent urban slum dwellers are sick and over 60 percent of their children are chronically malnourished at any given time.
The findings indicate a dismal reality for slum dwellers living in severely disadvantaged situation in absence of basic health infrastructure facilities for water, health, sanitation and drainage. What is worse is that the population density keeps rising in the slums as the number of people coming to the cities is only soaring regularly in search of jobs and a better living.
Slums have been identified as the den of growing crimes but the report suggested that most people who are desperate to earn their livelihood turned to crimes as they fail to find jobs to buy food and shelter
The study report suggest that there must be credible steps to improve the health supply services to the slums so that people can protect their basic hygiene and live free from diseases. Then there may be collaborative efforts of municipal authorities for safe water and sanitation. Moreover, the government may select a number of NGOs; which are receiving fund from donors for poverty reduction. NGOs may be assigned with a slum to work with the people and bring them better services for better life. But urgent steps must be at work at the same time to restraint the flow of the poor from rural areas by transferring remunerative work at their doorsteps
The truth is we have a government that is busy all the time planning to remain in power without caring for the people’s support or serving them. So the situation remains unchanged. The NGOs are also unaccountable and these are happy with fund they get from outside. They are good in holding press conferences to deliver their wise views and delivering less by way practical service. The people are being exploited in every way possible.
The opinion of experts that Bangladesh should work out an effective ‘urban-rural mixture’ in development planning to address the rapid urbanisation issue to discourage more arrivals of people to cities.
The government seems to have no idea how to govern a country and because of that the government is not showing any ability to improve the lot of the people.
