The new wards of Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) are four years old as of this year.
However, people in these wards are still bereft of any sort of development.
The DNCC is looking to take long awaited initiatives from the on-going month of December.
DNCC is starting development work in the 18 wards that came under their wing in 2017. These wards have been seen lagging behind in overall development even after being associated with the City Corporation for about four years.
However, according to the DNCC, development work will start this December under the mega projects, including road reconstructions, developed sewerage channels, improved lanes etc. in all the 18 newly formed wards.
According to DNCC officials, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) in July last year approved a number of projects worth Tk 42,562 lakh for these new wards of DNCC. However, the worsening situation of the pandemic made the execution of the projects difficult. With the improved Covid-19 situation in the country, the work is likely to begin soon.
DNCC Mayor Atiqul Islam recently said, "A master plan has been prepared for the development of new wards. Accordingly, development activities will start in these wards. As a result of the planned and environmentally friendly development initiatives, the appearance of new wards will change.”
On 9 May 2016, the National Implementation Committee on Administrative Restructuring (NICAR) decided to merge 8 unions with Dhaka North and South City Corporation. The following year, the 36 newly formed wards were divided into ten zones.
Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) consists of Shampur, Donia, Matuail, Sharulia, Demra, Manda, Dokkhingaon and Nashirabad Unions that were divided into wards 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74 and 75.
On the other hand DNCC includes Badda, Vatara, Santarkul, Beraid, Dumni, Uttarkhan, Dakshinkhan and Harirampur Unions that were divided into wards 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53 and 54.
In July 2017, the Beraid area adjacent to Badda came under Ward No. 42 of DNCC. However, having visited the area, this correspondent found that there is no way to understand that it is under the jurisdiction of any city corporation. The area frequently gets waterlogged, suffers from poor drainage system and water accumulates from various sources in the roads and alleys throughout the year.
While talking to this correspondent, Rashedul Islam, a resident of Ward No. 42 of DNCC, adjacent to Badda area of the capital said, "We are residents of City Corporation by name. There has been no development work here. Many areas still do not even have an improved drainage system. No work has been done in four years.”
On the other hand, Masum Hossain, a resident of Dumni area told this correspondent that the condition of the roads is bad and the communication system is very fragile. Waterlogging occurs in different areas throughout the year.
“When our area was added to the city corporation, I thought the area would improve. However, even in four years there has been no development. Due to waterlogging, various units of my house have been damaged and I was left with no tenants,” he said.
Md Ali Akbar, general councilor of ward no. 48 told Bangladesh Post that his ward is heavily neglected and there has been no improvement in the last few years.
“The people in my ward are in miserable conditions and remain neglected throughout when any development is concerned. Recently I heard of some initiative being considered, however, I cannot confirm.”
Regarding the situation in the other new wards, councilors said that there are sometimes complaints about waterlogging and fragile communication system. However, ECNEC has given approval for the development of new wards and the work will start soon.
The residents of the wards remain in dire situations hoping and waiting for their turn at improved roads and better community services.
