3 years in office, nearly half of Atiqul's pledges visible

Implementation of 17 out of total 38 pre-election promises by Awami League-backed Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) has been visible as he stepped into his fourth year in the office. The remaining 21 pledges are yet to be visible.

This was found after reviewing the election manifesto of Atiqul in 2020, before taking over as the Dhaka north mayor for a second term, and his speech at a press briefing marking three years in office.    

"I am not making any mistake in trying to advance the works… Several activities could not be done due to lack of funds and lack of space at various times," he said, adding that he will work in the next two years with the aim of building a smart city.

"I assumed responsibility three years ago to build a healthy, active and modern Dhaka. I am responsible to the people. As a servant of the city, I try to work for the people. I have done many things I had promised three years ago, but some things have not been possible. Due to the Covid-19 and Russia-Ukraine war, I have been interrupted a lot. But I will keep all promises to make Dhaka a livable city," added Atiqul.

Development of lakes and canals, monitoring of civil society complaints through the Shobar Dhaka App, digitisation of tax, trade license service, launching of round-the-clock digital command centre, construction of open parks and modern playgrounds, provision of public toilets, pedestrian-friendly and sidewalk network for people with special needs, celebration of festivals [Para Utshob] in different wards, ensuring civic amenities for slum dwellers are among the projects that became visible in the last three years. 

On the other hand, women-friendly primary health care centres, tree clinics, pet clinics, modern slaughterhouses and an air refining system through modern technology, which were promised to be built in Dhaka north, are yet to be established.

In addition, air pollution abatement with upgraded systems, electric buses, dedicated transport for schools-colleges-universities, breastfeeding rooms and ward complexes with civic amenities are yet to be done. There is no visible progress in the construction of multi-storey underground parking complexes in the busiest areas of the city as well.

No mosquito control programmes have been initiated through Integrated Vector Management (IVM) as in the developed world and, no ward-wise problem-solving programme through the mayor's face-to-face interaction with the city dwellers have been started.

However, the Dhaka north said that space constraints have proven to be a major bane for his plans for a modern city, but greening plans are still underway.

"We have formulated a policy on where to plant what kind of tree. We have also published a book in this regard. We will plant those trees which are needed for native birds," said Atiqul.

Trees will be planted in the limited space the city corporation has, he informed.

Atiqul further said that the construction of the retention pond in Kallyanpur is currently underway, and an eco-park next to it will be constructed without cutting down any trees.

Earlier, the Dhaka North mayor announced a plantation drive of two lakh trees to reduce the temperature of the capital city, and to prevent environmental pollution.

Having said that 49 public toilets have been built and 23 others were repaired in the last three years, on further plans, Atiqul informed that more 59 new public toilets will be constructed after finding spaces.

The Dhaka North City Corporation has removed around two lakh tonnes of waste from canals in the past year, and 1,250 kilometres of drains are cleaned regularly, said the mayor.

Land development work for a waste-to-energy generation project is currently underway. Once implemented, 42.5MW of electricity will be connected to the national grid, he informed.

Atiqul further said that the fight against dengue was being renewed, but with tweaks to earlier plans.

"By inspecting the roofs of nearly 28,000 houses through drone technology, we identified roof gardens in 22,000 houses and detected the presence of water in 200 houses as breeding grounds for mosquitoes," he said, adding that BTI medicines will arrive in the next two weeks, and the focus will be on eliminating larvicide and prevention campaigns.

As many as 22,000 dogs have been vaccinated, the mayor informed.

However, Atiqul said that a pilot project for a dedicated school bus service will begin in August this year, and in the first phase, the service will be launched in five schools.

The Dhaka north mayor informed that he will sit with relevant stakeholders this month to discuss technical solutions for digitisation of the traffic signals.

The city corporation is currently working to rehabilitate hawkers and bring them under proper management, he informed.