Dhanmondi residential areas are being increasingly encroached upon by illegal shops and hawkers, causing unpleasantness for everyone in the area and not just the residents.
Anyone who has to travel through the area has to face agonising traffic jams, courtesy of shops spilling out on the streets and blocking the flow of traffic.
It is easy to blame the hawkers, but these hawkers do not just randomly set up shop in an area. They are provided the space by powerful entities which demand daily fees in exchange -- these are the elements we should be pointing our fingers at.
It is, however, not entirely clear as to who the culprits are. Although there are a couple of names floating around, the informal chain of command means they have plausible deniability.
Evicting hawkers willy-nilly is not the solution either. For one thing, these people desperately need a source of income, and so, in a sense, they are victims here too.
A constructive solution would be for the government to provide designated areas for hawkers, because, in the absence of government support, unscrupulous people find a way to take advantage, as is the case now.
As long as a handful of powerful politicians continue to gain from these illegal shops, it is highly doubtful that they would voluntarily or willingly do anything about this problem -- after all, it is less of a problem than a blessing for them.
In that regard, the government should empower relevant authorities so a) they can enforce existing building regulations, which these shops are in violation of, and b) they can hold the culprits accountable without losing their jobs.
Also, if the two mayors of Dhaka city are truly committed to their vision of a cleaner and greener Dhaka as they say they are, they would be helping their own cause and gaining much credibility by taking this issue seriously
