Gulshan Society, the organisation of the residents of the up-scale neighbourhood in Dhaka, has launched a project to keep roads in the area clean throughout the year.
The project was inaugurated by Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor Annisul Huq on Saturday afternoon at the Gulshan Lake Park amphitheatre.
The society conducted several meetings in the last few months and finally adopted a project that would ensure that the roads in the neighbourhood are cleaned regularly.
It has already appointed an 80-member cleaning crew, and it will be brought up to a 100 people soon.
Under the project, a person or an organisation from the residential area will “adopt a road,” meaning they will finance and supervise the daily cleaning of that road.
Of the 148 roads under the scope of this project, 70 roads have already been adopted by residents, said Omar Sadat, secretary general of the society, adding that the rest of the roads will be adopted within two months.
The president of the society, former election commissioner ATM Shamshul Huda, said each sponsor will pay Tk1.08 lakh annually for the maintenance of the road.
“We have lent a hand to the city corporation so that the area can be kept clean more effectively. The sponsors will be given tally books, in which the cleaners will sign daily after work. Based on that tally, they will get paid,” Huda said.
“Generally the city corporation is responsible for providing clean living environment to its citizens as they are paying taxes for such facilities,” he said.
Mayor Annisul Huq said according to the 2014 census there were 120,481 people per square mile in the city corporation.
“It is difficult to provide due facilities to all these people,” he said.
Additional assistance from communities like the Gulshan Society will strengthen the authorities, he said.
“The authority is building roads and infrastructure and its would be a privilege for the corporation if the society could take some of the responsibilities,” he added.
Development work underway at a portion of Banani Lake near Amtoli
Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) Chairman Bazlul Karim Chaudhury, who was at the launching of the project, said the city development authority would be implementing a Tk2,900 crore project for the development of Gulshan-Baridhara-Banani-Niketan lakes.
He said the development would be finished within 2020 and three water treatment plants and eight bridges would be built on the lakes.
At some parts of the lakes, Rajuk was putting blocks on the banks to prevent the breaking of the soil, he added.