Hagar, a Scandinavian medieval Viking warrior, was the main character of a cartoon serial, “Hagar the Horrible.” His wife was Helga Horrible, a bossy woman. The cartoon was very popular during the late 20th century. In one episode, an angry Helga appeared in front of Hagar with an old and worn-out broom in her hand and said: “Before our wedding, you promised me the moon. Now, I am ready to settle for a new broom!” How reasonable!
Just before the last Dhaka City Corporation elections, we were happy to see one mayoral candidate, together with some celebrities, sweeping the streets in Gulshan. Their pictures were flashed in most electronic media and newspapers. Alas! We did not see him or the celebrities with the brooms on the streets again! Where have all the brooms gone?
Soon after the election, one of the mayors disclosed a plan to build an office for the corporation at a cost of Tk500cr, though it was not in his election manifesto. How could such an item receive his top priority while it was not a part of his agenda? Has he not got his priorities wrong?
The residents of Dhaka are besieged with many problems. The traffic is our number one problem. The lost man-hours due to traffic jams constitutes a huge loss to the national economy. The condition of the roads of the city, except for a few, has been very poor for a long time. Many roads have no footpaths or drains. Without maintenance for years, the roads are full of potholes.
Many roads are poorly illuminated. Municipal waste, construction material, and uncollected debris pile up on the roads and footpaths creating obstructions to vehicles and pedestrians alike. Many roads, footpaths, parks, playgrounds, lakes, and canals are occupied, partly or wholly, by land-grabbers all over the city.
The residents of the slum areas are deprived of basic civic amenities like clean water, sanitation, electricity, and gas. Security has deteriorated to the extent that robbery, mugging, killing, kidnapping, etc take place in broad daylight and the culprits get away scot-free.
The cost of living in the capital city has sky-rocketed. Anything we buy in Dhaka costs five to 10 times of what it costs at the growers’ level. For example, it was reported that guavas were being sold at Tk100 per maund, ie Tk2.50 per kg in Barisal, while we paid Tk60 to Tk100 per kg in Dhaka. It means that the lion’s share of the retail price in Dhaka goes mainly to the middle-men. Growers hardly get their toil’s worth.
It is believed that the wholesale markets in the capital city are controlled by a few syndicates. They determine the retail price of any item. The government machineries have very little control over them.
Similarly, the rent for small apartments, where the vast majority of the people live, is under the control of land-lords. They increase the rent as they wish. The costs of transportation, education, and health services are also exorbitantly high. To make Dhaka a liveable city, it is necessary to bring down the cost of living to an affordable level.
The mayoral candidates promised to make Dhaka a clean, green, healthy, and digital city free of corruption and traffic jams. They also promised to ensure Wi-Fi facilities in public transportation, mobile apps for utility services, improved drainage and sewerage systems, better waste management and recycling facilities, and more public toilets and accommodations for low-income people, including slum-dwellers.
Some candidates wanted to make Dhaka a safe, modern, and world-class city with adequate supply of water, gas, and electricity. They promised to wage a war against corruption, terrorism, and extortion and pledged to make Dhaka pollution-free and to clean the Buriganga river.
Sounds fantastic! If the elected mayors keep their promises, the city will perhaps look like Paris. The bumpy roads with potholes, the dirty drains clogged with solid wastes, the stinky heaps of municipal waste, bumper-to-bumper traffic, mugging, extortion, etc will disappear in no time.
One walking along the Buckland Bund will feel like having a promenade on the bank of La Seine. Gulshan Avenue will look like Avenue des Champs-Elysees. I vaguely remember one of our former ministers once promised to make Dhaka look like Paris. It is possible that our new mayors intend to realise his dream.
Was I day-dreaming? Perhaps I was. Let us be practical. We shall be all too happy if the elected mayors simply rebuild the roads, footpaths, and drains and keep them clean, streamline the traffic, build more elevated highways and multi-storied car parks, provide more public transportation, build more public toilets and maintain them, arrange efficient collection of municipal waste, provide the basic civic amenities to all residents including the slum-dwellers, take possession of all illegally occupied roads, footpaths, parks, playgrounds, lakes, and canals and maintain them properly and ensure the security of citizens.
While doing any work, it is most important to maintain the quality of workmanship. It is missing in most public work. Often, I observe from my balcony, how the repair work is carried out on the road in front of my house. There is hardly any supervision of the contractor’s work. The responsible engineers or the junior supervisors are not normally seen at the site.
Nobody notices when a contractor fills a trench with local clay while it is supposed to be filled with sand. As a result, patches of roads subside in no time. Because of poor workmanship, a repaired road is damaged again just after one monsoon. Maintenance of the quality does not cost any extra money. The responsible engineers and the supervisors only need to do their jobs properly and sincerely.
Are we asking for too much? No, we are not. We do not expect the moon from the elected mayors. Helga wanted to settle for a new broom. We shall remain content with a clean, safe, and liveable city. If our young and energetic mayors can do more, they are most welcome, but let them deliver the basic amenities first.