The number of slum population has been increasing in Rajshahi metropolis, a recent survey conducted by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics and Centre for Urban Studies disclosed it.
It is learnt, there being no industrial infrastructure, Rajshahi has remained a city consisting of mainly students, teachers and professionals. The number of daily wage earners is very scanty in the city because of absence of any industrial hubs.
Even without any industrial infrastructure facilities in Rajshahi, the cause of increasing floating population in the city is worrying for the city planners and the city dwellers as well. Rajshahi is regarded as one of the cheapest and the friendliest cities in the world.
The city of Rajshahi was declared the happiest city in the world by the World Happiness Survey in 2006. The city has very peaceful environment, free from mugging, toll-collection, extortion and musclemen. Political clashes and even the clashes among urban people on various issues is comparatively lower than any other cities.
For being a friendly and liveable city, a huge number of poor, landless people, mainly day labourers, are rushing to the city and taking shelter elsewhere-on the pavement, beside the railway track, river banks and even at the open spaces.
According to sources, not only the number of poor and slum dwellers are increasing in Rajshahi, but also the number of well off people are also increasing in the city.
Those wealthy people, who used to live in rural areas, are purchasing plots of land at the city, constructing houses and shifting there with their family members.
Recent increase of cultivation of mangoes, tomatoes, paddy and even psciculture and poultry farming have made hundreds of rural people wealthy.
Most of those people are now rushing to the city or sub-uraban areas for various purposes including for education of their children and for enjoying civic facilities. Those who are failing to purchase land or house in the city areas, are living in the rented houses.
On the other hand, poor and helpless people are also thronging to city centres in search of jobs. Those include rickshaw and van pullers, helpers of tempoos, buses and minibuses, vegetable vendors, fishermen, small traders, masons, artisans, garbage hunters and beggars.
These people with their low income are living inhuman lives in shanties and slums by erecting makeshift cottages with bamboo, polythene and straw.
The largest slum in the city is situated at the west side of Padma Housing Area. There are 160 shanties. All the slum dwellers are deprived of all civic facilities including the privy, pure drinking water and electricity.
Rajshahi City Corporation every year spent money under the project titled ‘Urban Partnership for Poverty Reduction (UPPR)’. But the project did not yield good result, as the flow of poor people has been increasing in the city and so the number of the slum dwellers.
Dr. Kustari Amina Queen, Deputy Director of Department of Family Planning of Naogaon and a resident of Rajshahi Upasahar area informed, slum dwellers used to suffer from various contagious diseases like Diarrhoea, Cholera, Typhoid, Jaundice and Pneumonia because of their living in non-hygienic atmosphere and because of not using sanitary latrine and safe drinking water.
