Expectations from the city fathers

There’s really no two opinions about the performance of late Mayor Annisul Huq and Sayeed Khokon. Anis’s replacement Atiqul Islam had promised to pursue the aggressive and progressiveness of his predecessor while Khokon’s was a struggle from the beginning. Anis had the added advantage of the more cooperative Gulshan and Banani societies during his tenure but it was his taking on the transport owner in cleaning up the Tejgaon morass that won people’s hearts more than anything else. Towards the end of his life he was coming up against formidable opposition in the fine tuning and Atiq was candid in saying his seven months in office was a learning experience more than a continued implementation of the plans in the pipeline.

Khokon’s challenge was bigger given the complexities of the older part of the city and the power wielded by the feudal lords that still hold sway. Perhaps that’s why in accepting with humiliation his non-nomination for the elections slated for end-January, he made it clear his next course of action would be in consultation with the Sardars of the community. Both Anis and Khokon had made it clear that without awareness and cooperation of the citizenry little improvements could be made. And with citizens reluctant to change, infrastructural and other changes were next to impossible.

It had been Khokon’s father Mohammad Hanif and then Sadiq Hossain Khoka, both since passed, that had argued for a city government with more powers for the corporations. This was a political consideration that the government was unwilling to risk but in hindsight that is the only way that the city can be changed. Indiscriminately implemented development plans without coordination or in sync with one another led to more waste and ultimately suffering for the city dwellers.

Fazle Noor Taposh, who has resigned from his constituency as member of parliament has stated he will follow the Annisul Huq model. The difference is that Huq had more space and a more aware citizenry on which to depend on. Traffic management and utility services had more expanses to play with whereas some of the old city alleys can barely allow a rickshaw to pass. Buildings old and new have been allowed to come up in such a way that disasters such as fires wreak havoc simply because fire fighters struggle to reach the point of occurrence. There has been little progress in shifting of the dangerous chemical storage godowns from residential areas though Khokon had declared that he had presented to the government plans entailing nearly Tk 200 crore for the purpose.

Urban planners have often expressed their frustration at the impunity with which city plans have been subverted. Progressive planners, not necessarily in the government, believe there are still ways to salvage the situation though the political and investment cost will be high. The World Bank has given up and has rather proposed expansion of the city towards the east.

BNP’s candidates have not as of yet stated their plans for the city and seem more concerned whether proper and free voting will be allowed. But to have a whiff of a chance they need to articulate their thoughts and the benefits that will accrue. Whether they or indeed Taposh and Atiq will have the gumption to raise the requirement of a central government remains to be seen. Annisul Huq was headed that way with a bottom-up approach that looked as if it could work. This included a limited consortium of buses that would maintain schedules and thereby free the city of a log jam. There were many critical of the Dhaka Chaka buses that operate singularly in Gulshan, Kamal Ataturk Avenue and Hatirjheel. He added to this a limited number of rickshaws properly designated to operate in the area at fixed fares. The fact is that it worked and private buses were only allowed passage through Gulshan main to connect Badda. Who says good ideas don’t work?