It is heartening to know that the newly appointed chairman of the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) understands just how much of a sweeping transformation our capital requires, touching upon the abject state of Dhaka’s environmental degradation and the necessity for strategic planning for the city’s future development.
As things stand, there are far too many problems and uncertainties facing Dhaka regarding its continued urban planning -- our capital city is considered one of the least livable cities in the world, a city where the very air we breathe is out to get us. But the city’s scattershot development has now caught up with our national ambitions, as problems such as ridiculously high levels of traffic are now directly getting in the way of our economic progress, while poor infrastructure and corruption are making problems such as flooding and disease that much worse.
The government’s solution in the past to all of these problems has been to establish authorization bodies which seemingly have had little to no effect in actually improving the city; and while it is always better to err towards optimism, for now the new Rajuk leadership’s promises of Dhaka becoming a well-planned city that also takes environmental integrity into account are just that, promises.
From footpaths that don’t serve their purpose, lack of breathable air, monstrous levels of traffic, infrastructural failing, and so many more, the list of everything that is wrong with our city is nigh endless. Demanding visible changes in how our capital is planned out is not a big ask, especially considering that Bangladesh is now more than half a century old as a sovereign nation.
Dhaka cannot afford to become a city built on top of itself.
