Unliveable city
Photo: Amdadul Huq / Driknews
Dhaka city is beset with many problems. Recently, this has been labelled as one of the most unliveable cities in the world by 'The Economist'. The common problems of Dhaka city are traffic jam, load shedding, water & sanitation, air pollution, accommodation crisis of increasing population and many more. Most of them get media coverage from time to time. Regrettably, some get little attention when the problem is acute. Of them accommodation problem has been severe over the past years as house rent has been doubled & in some cases tripled causing immense sufferings to the low & limited income people. Since the income of maximum people is not increasing keeping pace with ever soaring price of essential commodities and house rent, it is getting so difficult to survive for the poor city dwellers in the increasingly expensive Dhaka city. Hence, the number of slum dwellers bears the testimony to soaring house rent. However, most house owners increase house rents flouting the existing rules. They even impose additional rent on the tenants indiscriminately. Moreover, this practice has gone beyond limit in the recent times. If this trend remains unchecked it would be difficult for the limited & low income people to live in Dhaka in the coming days. However, this problem can be lessened to a greater extent if the following measures are taken. For instance, the house rent can be fixed on the space of the house, area & a particular duration of time. Besides, a written deed consisting of terms & conditions can be made by the owners & the tenants. I would sincerely urge the media to focus on this issue. Dhaka City Corporation should look into it seriously like many other problems and enact necessary laws to minimise the hardship of the common city dwellers.
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