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Making space in Old Dhaka

It is the part where most of our traditions, heritage and pride linger in every nook and niche, silently bearing testimony to many historic events for the last four hundred years. Old Dhaka must survive. Old Dhaka must live. If it is gone, we will be left with no past; no history.

Shahnoor Wahid
IT is time to think and talk about old Dhaka and the people living there. It is more pertinent to do so after the tragic fire incident at Nimtoli that claimed so many lives recently. We must not let it happen again. Old Dhaka is unique by every definition. It has a character of its own that can be felt only by people who continue to live there or who had lived there for at least a good number of years. New Dhaka lacks that character.
Puran Dhaka, as it is popularly called, is a moving canvas of colour, faces, food, dress, language and lifestyle that can hardly be emulated by outsiders. It is the part that never sleeps. It is the part where mostofour traditions, heritage and pride linger in every nook and niche, silently bearing testimony to many historic events for the last four hundred years. Old Dhaka must survive. Old Dhaka must live. If it is gone, we will be left with no past; no history.
As we see the population increasing like crazy everywhere, old Dhaka is no exception. But, not all are genuine Dhakaiaas who live there. At the moment, a guessti-
mate is that one third of the population there is constituted by people coming from other districts.
This gradual infiltration by aliens has not only alarmingly diluted the original character of old Dhaka but has also created a demand for more living space. But, as space is a big constraint in that part, house owners have opted to go skyward to earn rents.
They are building floors on weak foundations despite the fact that most buildings have outlived their allotted time. The invasion has in turn created tremendous pressure on the utility service supply system in the entire area from Wari to Wiseghat, from Laxmi Bazar to Lalbagh. The increasing number of people, shops, hotels, restaurants, schools, cars and rickshaws has resulted in the narrowing down of the roads and lanes in the area.
What the government must do on an emergency basis, if it is serious about not allowing any man-made disaster striking again, is formulate a pragmatic policy of creating a new residential area for the people of old Dhaka — for the genuine Dhakaiaas that is. Offer them compensation package for dismantling their dilapi-
dated buildings. Then find land for them and sell plots on instalment basis. Where would the government find land in old Dhaka? There is a solution.
Remove the Central Jail. Take it to somewhere in Savar or Gazipur or anywhere. The Central Jail is situated on a large area, which can be cleaned up and then divided into hundreds of plots. Those plots would be sold on lottery basis. No minister's nephew would be eligible to apply. Everyone will have to submit evidence to prove that he or she has been living in old Dhaka for five to six generations.
As an alternative step, the government can construct spacious, modern multistoried residential buildings and sell flats to the Dhakaiaas. The entire enclave should be built with a modern concept. There should be wide roads criss-crossing in all direction with a park and a shopping mall for the residents. There should also be a small field for children to play in. The demand for such flats would rise among the people in old Dhaka. But, where is land to construct more flats? There is a solution.
Remove all the tanneries from Hazaribagh and remove all factories and illegal warehouses from old Dhaka and you will have sufficient land to construct hundreds of flats. Hazaribagh itself is almost haifthesizeofDhanmondi residential area. One can visualise how many flats the government would be able to construct there; how many old Dhaka families would be able to live amidst fresh air and sunlight. Then why don'tthey do it?
Here everything stops. All good ideas
and good initiatives come to a dead end when we ask the government to do something. Why? because, government does not belong to anyone, neither does it belong to itself. It is a strange conglomerate, if we may say so for argument's sake, constituted with some strangers who do not know each other well and do not share any common interest. Each member of the government has his or her individual interest to fulfil.
Then who would do it? Private developers? But, cynics say that most of them are even worse than the East India Company. Well, a dilemma indeed and we shall have to find the best way as to how we can help our brothers living in old Dhaka. To reach a solution, let us form a strong committee comprising some highly respected, elderly citizens who would visit the entire old Dhaka, talk to the people, talk to the local leaders and seek their advice regarding how the crisis of residential quarters can be overcome.
The time bomb in old Dhaka is ticking. The ominous signs are there. If we do not act fast, greater man-made disasters will take more lives. Someone, some organisations will have to come forward with the good intent to help solve the problems. The commercial banks have been doing good business in old Dhaka for over a century under different names. Can they all get together and set aside a big fund from their CSR account to undertake massive facelift work?
Whether government or private sector, the bottom line is Save Old Dhaka.
Shahnoor Wahid Is a Senior Assistant Editor of The Daily Star. He can be contacted at shahnoorwahid @yahoo.co.uk.