DSCC services resume on limited scale after 40 days
The headquarters of the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) – Nagar Bhaban reopened Monday after 40 consecutive days.
The Nagar Bhaban main gate reopened this morning. DSCC officials started coming from 9:00 am. Public services at Nagar Bhaban also resumed today on a limited scale ending the stalemate started from 14 May. However, the operations are yet to be resumed on full scale.
The DSSC public services were halted for around a month and a half due to the movement of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and several city corporation employees demanding the sworn in of Ishraque Hossain as the mayor.
Two DSCC officials told Prothom Alo that officials and employees under different sections of the corporation returned to their desks this morning. A number of officials still remained absent. However, some emergency services were resumed on a limited scale.
People were seen coming to the Nagar Bhaban seeking various services including death and birth registration. Still, the situation has improved compared to the past few weeks.
Speaking to Prothom Alo, a security guard stationed at the main gate said, “We received an order this morning and opened the gate. The officials have been coming since then. The Nagar Bhaban is returning to normalcy after many days.”
Another DSCC official said, “The movement is not over yet. However, the protesters have shown some flexibility considering the public sufferings. The Nagar Bhaban was reopened for the sake of the emergency public services.”
Although officials and employees from other departments returned to their office today, there was nobody in the Engineering Department. The office of the DSCC administrator was also locked.
It has been learned that operations also resumed at the eight regional DSCC offices outside the Nagar Bhaban. The engineers did not show up at any of those offices.
Seeking anonymity, a DSCC engineer told Prothom Alo that he had been roaming around his office in the capital’s Sayedabad area since morning. But he was confused as to whether he should go inside or not.
Asked the reason, the DSCC engineer said although the protesters declared about opening all departments, they did not say anything specific regarding the engineering department. Therefore, he was trying to assess the situation first.
The poll gazette declaring Awami League candidate Sheikh Fazle Noor Tapash as the winner was revoked on 27 March by the Election Tribunal in Dhaka.
Later, BNP leader Ishraque Hossain was declared the mayor of the DSCC. Following that, the election commission published a gazette declaring the BNP leader as the DSCC mayor on 27 March.
However, the government did not arrange any oath taking ceremony for Ishraque which fueled the movement.