Dhaka city dwellers continue to face confusion and inconvenience with the exact addresses of many roads and establishments across the capital as authorities concerned have failed to implement their decision properly to rename and renumber a number of streets and buildings.
The undivided Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) took the initiative to change the names of 85 roads and 12 establishments to name them after the country’s esteemed personalities as a tribute in 2004. A decade later, most of these new names and numbers are still unknown to people due to negligence and lack of monitoring by both the Dhaka North and Dhaka South city corporations.
There is also the practice of using both the old and new names and numbers in most of the renamed streets and buildings, making it difficult for people to figure out the correct address of any street or establishment.
Visiting the streets in the capital, this correspondent found that most roads, streets and establishments had yet to use their newly assigned names and numbers. The situation is especially worse in the Dhanmondi area.
In Dhanmondi, all the streets have new names and numbers. But many Dhanmondi dwellers complained to the Dhaka Tribune that they did not know the new names.
“I have heard that the street names and numbers have changed in Dhanmondi. But I do not know them, so I cannot figure out the exact addresses based on the new system,” said Sadia Iqbal, a Kalabagan resident.
Ijaj Ahmed, a shop owner at Road 16 in Dhanmondi (old number 27), told the Dhaka Tribune: “We have to use both the new and old numbers in our address because most people know our shop only by the old number.”
Dhanmondi Road 32 is now Road 11 under the new system, but people still address it by Road 32. Road 16 (old 27) has been named Shahid Sheikh Kamal Sharani, which is also barely known by people.
Officials at both city corporations told the Dhaka Tribune that during the renaming process, both residential and commercial establishments were instructed to use the new names and numbers of their buildings and the streets in their addresses, but they did not follow the instructions properly.
However, owners of many other establishments did follow the instruction, and added the old address too, but it only created more confusion for people.
According to an official of the Dhaka North City Corporation, the new name of the road from Mohakhali via Gulshan 1 intersection upto Badda is AK Khandker Avenue, and the new name of Gulshan Avenue is Bir Uttam Mir Shawkat Ali Avenue. Yet most organisations in Gulshan still use the old names. Residents too are unaware of the new names.
Mortuza Ratul, a resident of Badda, told the Dhaka Tribune: “I have never heard of the new names of Gulshan 1 and 2. Most of the shops and other holdings just use the name Gulshan Avenue.”
To name a few, Elephant Road has been renamed as Dr Kudrat-e Khuda Road, Green Road is officially Shahid Munir Chowdhury Road, Purana Paltan is Comrade Moni Singh Road, and Dainik Bangla Road is Bir Uttam Ashfakus Samad Road.
Talking to the Dhaka Tribune about this problem, locals of different areas in Dhaka blamed the lack of monitoring by the city corporations, as well as their failure to make the changes public knowledge.
Ijaj, the shop owner at Dhanmondi Road 16, said the city corporations should take steps to advertise the new names and numbers, otherwise the confusion would persist.
The Dhaka Tribune contacted Mohammad Sirajul Islam, chief urban planner at Dhaka South City Corporation, who was also in charge of urban planning at Dhaka North City Corporation when the city corporation was divided, who said his department was not responsible for the renaming project and advised this correspondent to contact the Revenue Department of both the city corporations.
This correspondent then contacted Md Mostafa Kamal, chief revenue officer at Dhaka South City Corporation, who said: “We have directed the establishments to use the new names and numbers, but they have yet to do it.”
This correspondent also contacted BM Enamul Haque, chief executive officer at Dhaka North City Corporation, who reiterated Mostafa’s statement and added that they would take strict measures to ensure the use of only the new names and numbers. However, employment of any such measures is yet to be seen.