Capital city in a dire strait

With some 4.5million people living in urban centres around the country contributing anywhere up to 60 per cent of GDP, experts believe this contribution can go up to 75 per cent if policy measures are adopted for a planned growth of urban centres. Indeed, a national urban policy has been lying dormant since 2011, which if put into use could pave the way for a balanced development of Dhaka serving the needs of an ever-growing populace. With a demonstrative lack of local governance and numerous local municipal corporations and bodies implementing projects without proper coordination, the needs of the populace remain largely unaddressed.
Dhaka city being the premier urban centre in the country remains in the grip of unmitigated pollution of the rivers and other water bodies. With two city corporations operating more or less independent of one another, municipal services have been floundering. As pointed out by experts in a recent seminar, nearly 1.5million cubic metres of sewage is being dumped into the water bodies through storm sewers daily without undergoing any sort of treatment. This is one major health problem for city residents.
What has come to light is that without proper administration of local bodies working in unison, balanced urban development taking into account economic development, employment generation, utilisation of land and taking care of the environment will remain a distant dream. The sustainability of the capital city may soon run into a critical state unless adequate policy measures are initiated today.