Phased local body polls likely to begin in Sept-Oct, Fakhrul tells parliament

Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir today (16 June) said the countrywide local government elections, to be held in phases, may begin in September or October this year after the end of the monsoon season.

Replying to a question from ruling party lawmaker Md Mustafizur Rahman Babul (Jamalpur-3) during the question-answer session in parliament with Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad in the chair, he said the government plans to complete elections to all tiers of local government bodies within the next year.

The minister said elections to Union Parishads, municipalities, Upazila Parishads, Zila Parishads and city corporations will be held gradually, subject to the availability of budgetary allocations.

"The Union Parishad elections may be held first, followed by elections to other local government institutions in phases," he said.

Mirza Fakhrul also said elections to all 13 city corporations, including the newly established Bogura City Corporation, are expected to be completed within the same timeframe.

Replying to another question from ruling party MP Mohammad Shamim Kaiser, he said the Local Government Division has already allocated Tk6 lakh to each Upazila Parishad for constructing an inspection room within the Parishad premises for lawmakers and senior government officials.

Responding to a question from reserved seat MP Nilufar Chowdhury Moni, the minister said the daily water demand in Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Dhaka South City Corporation currently stands at 3.2-3.25 billion litres, with fluctuations during summer and winter seasons.

He said the present daily water production capacity of Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) is around 2.95-3.0 billion litres.

According to the minister, water is treated using advanced chemicals, including PAC, alum sulphate and chlorination, and supplied through the network only after quality testing in Wasa laboratories in line with World Health Organization guidelines.

He added that Dhaka Wasa collects 40-50 water samples daily from different parts of the city and tests them against various parameters to ensure quality standards.

In response to a question from reserved seat MP Selima Rahman, Mirza Fakhrul said household waste collection in the DNCC areas is currently carried out by private operators, who transport waste by vans to secondary transfer stations.

He said efforts are underway to bring these operators under formal contracts with the city corporation. Once the contracting process is completed, the use of smaller covered vans for environment-friendly waste transportation will be considered.

Replying to a question from reserved seat MP Nipun Roy Chowdhury, the minister said the government has taken steps to develop Version-2 of the Birth and Death Registration software.

The upgraded system will include online payment facilities and blockchain-based tracking features, enabling authorities to identify any changes made to records and determine at which level such modifications occurred, he said.

Mirza Fakhrul also said regular training is being provided for registrars and registration assistants across the country to simplify services and reduce public inconvenience.