Service providers link up with DSCC

All utility service providers will prepare a six-month work plan to ensure better coordination among themselves and carry out development work without hindrance.

The agencies will work in an organised way to give the residents in the Dhaka South City Corporation a respite from frequent road diggings.

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Illegal structures on canals in the city would be removed and the road under the Mayor Mohammad Hanif Flyover would be freed from unauthorised bus and truck stands.  

These are some of the decisions made at a coordination meeting at the Nagar Bhaban yesterday with DSCC Mayor Sayeed Khokon in the chair.

It was the first such meeting between the DSCC mayor and representatives of 26 utility service providers after the government empowered the two Dhaka city mayors to impose decisions on utility service providers.

On June 27, the government issued a circular asking the chiefs of all utility service providers in the city to attend general meetings of the two city corporations and implement decisions to improve civic amenities.

Yesterday's meeting discussed a total of 13 issues, including waterlogging, traffic congestion, freeing the city canals from grabbers, preparedness for earthquake, clean-up drives and demolition of risky buildings in the city.

To ensure better coordination of work among all utility service providers, Khokon asked them to submit a six-month work plan to the DSCC soon.

He also told them to carry out road digging and construction work in the dry season and at a particular time to reduce sufferings of the city dwellers.

At the meeting, it was also decided that illegal bus and truck stands would be removed from the road under the Mayor Hanif Flyover at Jatrabari within 15 days to reduce traffic congestion in the area.

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) would set up an action committee to conduct the eviction drive.

Jatrabari is one of the main entrances to the city and it should remain clear, said Khokon, asking the DMP representatives to make sure that the place is not reoccupied after eviction.

DMP Additional Police Commissioner Sheikh Mohammad Maruf Hasan said coordination is very important to reduce traffic congestion in the city.

He said two committees formed by the DMP identified 10 places in the DSCC where vehicles can be parked beside roads in a systematic way.

Kazi Golam Nasir, chief architect of the Department of Architecture, suggested that the government should build 10-storey towers in the city for using them as car parks.

Each tower on a plot of three-katha land would accommodate up to 100 vehicles, he added.

To tackle the waterlogging problem, the mayor asked the Deputy Commissioner's Office to remove illegal structures on the city canals within 15 days, and asked it to submit a report to the DSCC in a month.

Noting that most of the city canals are being encroached upon or filled up, he asked the Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) to identify such spots and report to the DC office to take necessary action.

The mayor decided to form a three-member committee that would decide on demolition of box culverts, which are partly blamed for waterlogging in the city.

The committee would take the next course of action after holding a meeting with the principal secretary to the prime minister, he said.

Khokon also asked the railway authorities to remove all unauthorised structures in and around the drainage channel near the Wasa pump house at Kamalapur to ease waterlogging in Shantinagar area.

He said they are thinking of setting up common utility ducts and asked the utility service providers to think about it.

“If we can do this, the frequency of road digging would come down and people's sufferings would be reduced greatly,” said Khokon.

The meeting was attended by, among others, heads or representatives of Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha, Wasa, Dhaka Power Distribution Company Ltd, Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Ltd, the Department of Environment and Fire Service and Civil Defence.