Staff Reporter :As mayors of Dhaka City Corporations lack of transparency and accountability to the people, most of the civic problems remain unsolved over the years leading to recurrence of tragic death of minor boys in the city, urban planners said on Wednesday.They said, even they are not capable to exercise their power as they have to depend on the government concerned ministries and departments for approving development projects, fund and even for operating eviction drives in the city. In a latest incident, Ismail Hossein Nirob, 6, a resident of Palpara area of Shyampur Union under Dhaka Metropolitan area, died on Tuesday after falling into an open manhole. Nirob slipped into the manhole in the afternoon while playing with two other kids — Ratul and Hridoy. Fire Service divers recovered his body from the Buriganga River at Palpara, around 2 kilometres down at river point. It was almost the same case of Jihad who had died after falling into an open well at Shahjahanpur railway colony in December last year. ‘The recurrence of mishaps due to open manholes have apparently failed to wake up the civic bodies from their deep slumbers,” Professor Nazrul Islam, a noted urban planner of the country, told The New Nation on Wednesday.He said the deaths of minor boys one after another have highlighted the danger of open manholes, but the civic bodies including Dhaka City Corporations are yet to come up with effective steps to cover the manholes.’They cannot avoid their responsibilities over the tragic deaths. They should face punishment for their negligence,” he added.When asked, Professor Nazrul Islam said, two city corporation mayors promised to ensure better civic service, but they failed to show something tangible or positive in the last seven months as they are not transparent and accountable to the people.”Even they lack skill to deliver their due duties,” he added.”Open manholes and drains can be spotted everywhere in the city. There have been many instances of death and injury after people falling into uncovered manholes,” Professor Md Shamsul Hoque, another noted urban planners, told The New Nation on Wednesday.He added: “Such incidents are taking place due to the negligence of the civic bodies which is unacceptable. If the City Corporations and WASA were serious to perform their duties, tangible improvements could be made to the existing civic problems and the tragic death incident of Nirob could be averted.Regarding the performance of the mayors, Professor Md Shamsul Hoque said, they are yet to come up with expected service delivery as they were promised before the election.”Their performance is not satisfactory as people are still deprived of getting expected service,” he said, adding, “The two mayors seemed to be unsuccessful in dealing the city’s problems which is very unfortunate,” he added. Professor Shamsul Hoque further said the two mayors have concentrated more on development projects without devising a proper system. Without, a proper plan, they many not do better for the city dwellers. Both the urban planners observed that the mayors of Dhaka City Corporations have failed to perform their duties smoothly as the existing system does not allow them to exercise much power. They have to depend on the concerned ministries and departments and even to the Prime Minister’s office for approving development projects, fund and operating eviction drives in the city. They also stressed the need for a coordinated effort among the civic bodies to resolve the existing problems in the city life.When contacted, Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) additional Chief Engineer Sayed Qudratullah on Wednesday claimed that they cover all the manholes, but the thieves and drug addicts steal the iron tops of manholes in night for meeting their drug cost.”We always monitor the roads but if the thieves steel manhole at the night it is very difficult to nab them,” he said.Khan Mohammad Bilal, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) claimed that they do not have any manhole under their jurisdiction. It is WASA’s responsibility to maintain manholes. “However, DSCC has 800km long surface drains for pumping out waters from the city’s different areas,” he said.Apart from city corporations, he said, three civic authorities-WASA, DESA and RAJUK- are also responsible to provide service to the city dwellers. “As there is no coordination among these service providers, the city people are being deprived of better service,” he observed.When contacted, WASA Managing Director, Taqsem A Khan said, he does not have anything to say in this regard.
