Hundreds of people have traditionally visited the Kandirpar Town Hall area in the heart of Comilla throughout the day and night. In the evenings, cultural, social, and political activists congregate here for a variety of events. The Bir Chandra Public Library and the Comilla Club are also located on the property.
Taking advantage of circumstances, some powerful persons began operating a hawkers' market on the pathways around the town hall, destroying the charm of the area. Besides, the environment has deteriorated due to widespread drug dealing in this area, which discouraged many people from visiting the town hall.
Then the menace became news and was covered by different media. Seeking a remedy, the representatives of civil society also raised the matter with the city mayor, Arfanul Haque Rifat. After taking office last year, the mayor took some steps, and the hawkers and drug addicts were evicted from the town hall area. The city's people have applauded the mayor for this.
Awami League leader Rifat became the mayor in a competitive election held on June 15 by breaking the winning streak of BNP's two-time mayor, Monirul Haque Sakku. Rifat was sworn in as the new mayor of Comilla City Corporation (COCC) on July 5.
Since then, he has taken many steps to materialize his promises and solve the major problems of the city of one million people with an area of 53.4 square kilometres in 27 wards. But sluggish progress has created civic discontent in some areas.
Mayor Rifat thinks one year is not enough to make a big change.
"Still, development work is being carried forward through the planned master plan. The Nagar Bhaban has been kept open for people of all opinions. I do not favour anyone over the allocation of development works," he told Dhaka Tribune.
Civil society representatives notice a significant disparity between their expectations and achievements at this time.
They say the problems of traffic congestion and flooding are not new to city dwellers because no public representative can take meaningful measures. However, in their election manifestos, all mayoral candidates prioritize these concerns. Questions have also been raised about the overabundance of hawkers on different roads and gross mismanagement at the bus terminals.
Former mayor Sakku did not want to say anything about the success or failure of the mayor. He wants to give more time to the mayor in this regard.
Traffic congestion: A major suffering
In recent days, severe traffic jams were reported in Kandirpar, Rajganj, New Market, Mogltuli Badurtola, Jhautola, Tomchhom Bridge, Shashongachha, Police Lines, Fouzdari Mor and Rani Bazar areas of the city.
Traders and passers-by said such scenes are common in these areas due to an excess of auto-rickshaws, CNG-run autorickshaws and rickshaws. These small vehicles are growing in numbers since there is no urban transport.
Moreover, hawkers have occupied the sidewalks while most of the roads in the city are already narrow. On the other hand, the Dhaka-Chittagong highway buses enter the city early. Various educational institutions including Comilla University and Victoria Government College have bus services too.
When a bus or large vehicle enters Kandirpar, the main turning point of the city, a severe traffic jam is created. It affects the surrounding roads, said Raju Ahmed, a trader at Kandirpar Chowrangi Market.
Walking in Kandirpar is difficult in the afternoon and evening. Because of the traffic jam and hawkers on the sidewalks, most of the time, one has to walk in a huddle. In this case, women pedestrians are in the most embarrassing situation.
Due to the nagging gridlock, commuters going from Kandirpar to Shasongachha, Tomchhom Bridge and Rajganj choose to walk. This is the situation in all the important roads of the city.
No solution to waterlogging yet
Every year, most of the main roads and ground floor of houses in many areas are submerged during monsoons. The same picture is also in alleys. This is mainly due to narrow drains and not being cleaned regularly, civil society representatives say. They deplore the absence of a master plan for a sustainable solution.
The localities that see waterlogging include Thankurpara, Bagichagaon, Race Course, Old Chowdhury Para, Faujdari, Chawkbazar, Tomchhom Bridge, Shubhopur, Chiriakhana Road, Kaliajuri, Ranirbazar, Mogltuli and Chartha areas.
Worrisome picture of bus terminals
The three main bus terminals of the city are in poor condition due to mismanagement for a long time. An anarchy situation has arisen at Shashongachha and Jangalia bus terminals due to various reasons including potholes, haphazard stopping of buses, transport workers dragging passengers, illegal occupancy of passenger sheds, and dirty environment of toilets.
For so long, the authorities have given little attention to the Shashongachha bus terminal because it is not under the city corporation. Again, the Durgapur Union also does not want to take responsibility. Due to this dilemma, the terminal has not seen development for many years.
There are different district and upazila buses and CNG autorickshaw stations, but there is no order. Incidents of people identifying as association leaders extorting drivers are commonplace.
Passengers going to Dhaka, Sylhet and Brahmanbaria have to suffer daily. The big holes all over the terminal have increased the level of suffering of passengers, and it worsens when it rains. Muggers are also on the prowl in this chaotic situation.
Mayor Rifat said although the terminal is outside the city corporation's purview, the process of shifting it to Alekharchar Bishwa Road is underway. The development work is funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) and Urban Development and City Governance Project (UDCGP).
Projects sluggish
The Chawkbazar Bus Terminal had also been in a shabby condition for long. Thanks to a Tk80-crore modernization project, passengers will soon be able to take buses to Feni, Chauddagram and various districts without any hassles.
Around 90% of the project work has already been completed by the city corporation.
On the other hand, the development work of Jangalia Bus Terminal at the cost of Tk50 crore is going on slowly. Therefore, the passengers are subjected to many hassles every day as they have to use this terminal for buses or CNG auto-rickshaws to travel to Noakhali, Laxmipur, Chandpur and South Comilla. Big holes have developed all over the place, the two passenger sheds are occupied and the public toilets are dirty.
The mayor could not speed up the modernization work in one year despite taking measures while project officials could not say anything specific about when it will end.
Views of civil society
Badrul Huda Zenu, the former president of Comilla Conscious Citizens' Committee (Sonak), thanked the mayor for restoring order to the town hall grounds.
“There has been no significant development in one year since the current mayor took office. Not much initiative has been noticed, especially in solving waterlogging and traffic congestion. Currently, solving these two problems is the main demand of city dwellers,” he told Dhaka Tribune.
Comilla District General Secretary of Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (Bapa) Ali Akbar Masum said: “There is no use in spending thousands of crores of taka on development work if traffic congestion and waterlogging cannot be resolved.”
What the former mayor says
According to Sakku, there has been no visible development in the city during the new mayor's tenure. “I initiated the projects which are now underway. The current mayor could not bring the budget for any new project,” he told Dhaka Tribune.
Highlighting the various issues of development during his tenure, he said that even though he was the mayor of the opposition party, he had coordinated with the government for the sake of development.
The current mayor could not convince the government to get more funds for the development projects. “He managed to bring in only Tk150 crore in one year. But at this time, it was necessary to bring at least Tk400 crore,” Sakku added.
What the mayor says
Comilla Mayor and City Awami League General Secretary Rifat spoke about the issues of concern with the Dhaka Tribune correspondent. Although he said over Tk1,000 crore has been spent on various infrastructure projects in a year, no effective step was not taken to ease traffic congestion and waterlogging.
A major decision on solving waterlogging will be announced soon, he said. “I've conducted three rounds of meetings with the authorities concerned to resolve the traffic jam.
“We've decided that large auto-rickshaws will not be allowed to ply the city. Instead, there will be 5,000 oil-run and 1,000 CNG-run autorickshaws with special stickers of the city corporation. It'll be effective from July.”
Hhawker eviction and cleaning operations are also being done regularly. However, there are many limitations in this regard, he admitted.
“After taking responsibility, I opened the Nagar Bhaban for all classes of people. I haven't made it a party office. I'm also not biased against dissent councillors in development allocations. Everything is being coordinated with Comilla-6 Sadar constituency lawmaker AKM Bahuddin Bahar in the interests of the people,” Mayor Rifat added.