February 15 marked the third anniversary of Rezaul Karim Chowdhury taking charge as the mayor of Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) after being elected on January 27, 2021.
Four days before that, while unveiling his election manifesto, Rezaul made 37 pledges to the city dwellers. Rezaul was the joint general secretary of the Awami League’s Chittagong city unit.
During his election campaign, he confidently vowed to fulfil the promises too.
However, at the end of his third year in office, the city people came up with mixed reactions, with many alleging that the pledges remained only on paper.
Rezaul, too, is not sure if all his pledges can be implemented during his tenure.
Often compared to "Singapore," Chittagong City is plagued by water stagnation, traffic congestion, mosquito menaces, and poor waste management.
Every rainy season, the city regularly makes headlines due to waterlogging, as low-lying areas of the city go under knee- to waist-deep water even after a couple of hours of rainfall. Other than damage to properties, many lives are snuffed out because of heavy downpours there.
These are among the most common and regular problems for the premier port city.
Despite repeated calls from urban experts and city people, civic issues continued to trouble.
Additionally, there has hardly been visible progress in recovering canals and footpaths.
As negative reactions keep flooding in on his third anniversary as city mayor, Rezaul has reissued his promises to address the problems.
What dominated in his manifesto
While presenting the 37-point manifesto on January 23, 2021, Rezaul pledged to turn Chittagong into a world-class, aesthetic, and habitable city.
Rezaul said he would launch a special 100-day program and restore the grabbed canals, drains, and rivers of the city.
Also promising to monitor an already functioning door-to-door garbage collection program, he said: “Besides, a waste recycling plant will be set up from where power and fuel will be produced.”
Turning Chittagong into a tourist city was also his priority.
Is addressing waterlogging impossible?
In a press conference on February 14, marking his mayorship anniversary, Rezaul said: “If the city people don’t become aware, water stagnation can never be addressed.
“A number of people dump their bedding, pillows, and even mattresses into canals alongside garbage. This is worsening the water stagnation issue,” he said.
In a bid to partially get rid of the problem, the canal stretching from Baroipara in Bahaddarhat to the Karnaphuli River is being dug at a cost of Tk1,362.63 crore, he told reporters.
Stating that 60% of the physical work of the project has been completed, the CCC mayor hoped it would completely end by mid-2024.
“Once done, the project will relieve one million people of waterlogging,” he said.
Rezaul went on to say the CCC owed Tk1,100 crore in different bills, including for electricity and construction, when he took the helm.
In the last three years, Tk550 crore of the outstanding bills have been paid, Rezaul said.
When asked about his manifesto, Rezaul said: “I remember that. I’ve already started working with female entrepreneurs. I’m also working to make Chittagong a smart city.
“At the end of the day, I may not materialize the promises. But I can at least leave them initiated before the next city polls,” he said.
Holiday market for hawkers on the cards?
Since early 2021, he said, a number of footpaths, drains, and roads in the New Market area have been recovered.
“Encroachments of footpaths across the city will be removed,” he said, adding that “holiday markets” will be set up for hawkers and mobile vendors on the recovered footpaths.
On a separate note, Rezaul said at least one-fourth of the 20-storey building of the CCC will be completed in the next two years.
City people are disappointed
Blaming the city mayor, Muradpur resident SM Shahidullah said the city people suffer massively every rainy season.
“I think the funds to address the perennial problem are not being utilized properly,” he said, demanding immediate and effective action from the CCC in this regard.
Yusuf Talukder, a local from Bahaddarhat, said that regular traffic jams have been another major problem for them.
“Illegal battery-run three-wheelers are adding to our woes on the streets. But the CCC seems to be lenient about those,” he said.
Sachetan Nagorik Committee, Chittagong city chapter’s president, Akhter Kabir Chowdhury, said: “Instead of ensuring civic amenities, the city mayor caused a downfall of services.
“In the last three years, the city has seen no significant development. So, as a city resident, I’ve nothing to cheer about,” he said.
The civil society leader said the CCC is plagued by corruption despite being the city’s largest service entity.
“And the city mayor can’t avoid the responsibility of the anomalies,” he said.
