Noise and air pollution: The best achievements of the mayors

Dhaka. The city of life. Life of intense traffic jam and suffocation under the pressure of crowded people. Breathing is like embracing death. Among them is the oppression of intense noise. Festival of snatching at night. Fear of sudden destruction. Roads, markets, shopping malls all are crowded with people. People are on people. Even after that, we hold on to this city. We live like dying in this city. Someone for a job. Someone for treatment. Someone for the child's education and some to win the battle of life. People don't think about Dhaka anymore. They don’t dream of improving Dhaka anymore developing a livable city, etc. Surviving by embracing the garbage, pollution and instability of this city is an absolute blessing.

Recently our city has excelled in two areas of the world. We have been excelling in air pollution for quite some time. And this time we got the title for noise pollution. Dhaka is often at the top of IQ Air's 'World Air Pollution Report', a Swiss anti-pollution technology service provider. Competing fiercely with Delhi to retain the top spot. Sometimes Delhi is first, sometimes Dhaka. However, in recent times, Dhaka has fixed the top position. On the other hand, Dhaka has recently achieved excellence in noise pollution among 61 populous and important cities. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in its report titled 'Frontiers 2022: Noise, Blazes and Mismatches' has given Dhaka the title of the worst noise pollution. The report said, 'Most of the time in Dhaka, the noise level is more than double the tolerable level. It causes long-term damage to the physical and mental health of the city dwellers.'

Two international organizations have recognized Dhaka for two separate excellences. This recognition has overwhelmed us silently. This is an extraordinary achievement of two great and famous mayors of Dhaka metropolis. That is why we can welcome them. Dhaka metropolis has grown. That’s why, the government has divided Dhaka into two parts and formed two city corporations several years ago. Two mayors in two cities. Both of them are very good. Every day the nation watches their various exercises on television. In the depressed life of the people of Dhaka, two mayors are a little source of entertainment. In a ceremony a few days before the two great achievement, the two mayors declared themselves successful. One mayor declared, "We are two hundred percent successful together." Wow! As the mayors were automatically elected, they self-proclaimed to be 100% successful. Excited by the announcement of the success of the mayors, I tried to feel what is the work of the mayors? Looking for the answer to this question, I saw that being the mayor of two city corporations in Dhaka is the safest, risk-free and jobless position. The first task of the mayors is to make the miserable public life even more miserable by talking about different issues. The second task is to put the blame for the failure on others. The mayors are quick to point out that air pollution or noise pollution is due to lack of coordination among different agencies. We are not responsible for that. The job of our mayors is just talk and reassure and not take responsibility for anything. They do not have the capacity to implement 10% of the promises they made during the election. Our two mayors are of two kinds. One thinks people are adversaries and sometimes guinea pigs. He wants to prove he is a mayor by intimidating people. The other is the terror for the administration and the various authorities. Tries to find success through the loopholes in the law. In a few days, the outbreak of dengue will start in Dhaka. The two mayors will take to the field in different guises. Threaten the people. They will go to drains, garbage, ditches and have photo session. They will model with the fogger machine. (In light of last years’ experience) However, cleaning garbage, canals, dirty sewers etc. is a routine work of the city corporation. Let’s forget the middle class areas like Mirpur and Mohammadpur. Even elite areas like Gulshan and Banani are now garbage dumps. Mayors do not have time to clean these. One is now busy with the number plate of the car. One of our mayors is trembling in the frenzy of unimaginable discovery of when the odd-even car will run. His invention is so fancy that he can give himself a PhD. Odd number of cars will run in Dhaka on odd dates like 1, 3, 5. Such as 15, 16, 19 serials. However, there is no mention of traffic control in the service list of North City Corporation. But he gave odd-even theory to the people of Dhaka. After the mayor's discovery, I was talking to a person working in a private bank. He said, ‘Brother, my car is 20 serials, I work in a bank. My wife works in a private company. The boy and the girl are both in two different schools. I drop the kids off at school in the morning, then drop my wife off at the office. The driver takes the children home at noon. Then the car takes my wife and then it picks me up. His asked, what will I do on an odd day? Does the mayor have any idea about the public transport? I did not have any answer to his question. When ordinary people are annoyed by traffic jams, our great mayors say, 'This is not our job.' Mayors are silent when an innocent student is shot dead by terrorists on a busy street at night. They are silent when innocent civilians are stabbed to death in the early hours of the morning. Mayors are silent when a schoolgirl's mother is crushed by a reckless driver. Their irrefutable argument for this silence is- "It is not the responsibility of the mayors to maintain law and order. Road accidents are not part of the mayor's job." 'However, both mayors in their election manifestos pledged to build a safe, livable city. What does a safe city mean? A city where men and women can move freely. Be able to breathe wholeheartedly. Be able to move from one place to another effortlessly. Education, medical will not be disturbed. A person can get out of the house and return home safely. I simply think this is a reflection of a safe city. If the responsibility of the mayor is to build a safe city, a livable city, then the mayors have the responsibility to protect the facilities, life and health of every citizen of the city. For the sake of argument, let’s assume that it is not the responsibility of the mayors to maintain law and order. Preeti, a student, died on the spot. As mayor, shouldn't he have expressed sympathy to that family? I thank the Information Minister for at least showing that humanity. Stopping terrorism and looting is not the job of the mayor and just like that it is also not the responsibility of the mayor to see what is happening on other people's land. A few days ago I saw a mayor's drama about railway land. Railway authorities have leased one land to an organization. He stopped work on the land and showed his bravery. He scolded the railway minister on the telephone and displayed his power. But when this railway minister was doing Chhatra League the mayor did not even know what he was doing. There was no sign of him. This is an example of how the infiltrators of Awami League are crushing the real Awami League. Railway Minister Ajanma has fought for the ideals of Bangabandhu. And this garment trader suddenly became Awami League and became the mayor. Seeing that heroism of the mayor, I remembered Anil Kapoor from the very old Hindi movie 'Nayak'. If only our mayors could fix everything like a movie! Both our mayors are strange. Whenever they talk about their problems, they say, 'It's not in our power.' Again, they have taken the people hostage in various experiments. Such as U loop. If you want to go to Gulshan or Banani from Mohakhali flyover, then you have to go around the naval headquarters again. If you want to go to the airport from Banani then you have to go to Mohakhali and catch U loop. Only a person who is unpopular and does not have to be accountable to the people can do such anti-people work. Now again the odd-even driving theory will bring a new disaster for the people of the metropolis. Our two mayors, Mashallah, are rich. They have all kinds of odd and even cars. But what will happen to thousands of people like that banker? What will happen to Uber drivers? An excellent example of how mayors decide to run a city can be found in London's mayor Sadiq Khan. Recently, Sadiq Khan has formulated a plan for police and crime prevention. How the police will be made more sensitive between 2022 and 2025? The strategy paper has a long plan on how to reduce crime in London. This plan of Sadiq Khan did not emerge like an amulet found in a dream. Sadiq Khan has taken the opinion of 4,000 Londoners in formulating this plan. He also talked to the police. The scope of activities of the Mayor of London is very wide. There are 10 deputy mayors under the mayor. Those who take care of the 10 main issues. Environment, housing, law and order, culture, social security, public transport, etc. The mayor of London is responsible for all the important matters of the city. Compared to him, the power of the two city mayors of Dhaka is insignificant. Then why do they tell the story of the dream Dhaka, in this powerlessness. A few days ago, Awami League General Secretary and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader asked the two mayors to work with air pollution and noise pollution in mind. But on the occasion, the two mayors submitted a mountain of excuses. He sang that old song of incoherence. After the two mayors took charge, there was discussion on waterlogging in Dhaka. The mayors dropped the blame on WASA's shoulders. The two mayors said the main reason for the waterlogging was canal filling. The canals are under WASA control. The local government minister took a bold decision to hand over the canals to the two city corporations. Ministers and mayors went to inspect the canal and witnessed the tragic death of a canal. We, the people of Dhaka, became hopeful. This time the canal will be rescued. The boat will run in the canal. How many canals have the mayors rescued in Dhaka city? It is true that our mayors do not have the power, even if they get more power, their lack of qualifications becomes evident. Mohammad Hanif was the first elected mayor of Dhaka. I went to interview him in 1998 about the endless problems of Dhaka. Even before this interview, Mohammad Hanif had been talking about the city government. He proposed to bring various organizations including WASA, RAJUK, Dhaka Metropolitan Police under City Corporation. Mohammad Hanif made important contributions to the movement for the fall of the BNP. He was one of the leading political figures in the field. Mayor Hanif was one of the attractions on the public stage due to his huge popularity and extraordinary eloquence. Within two years of becoming mayor in 1994, Mayor Hanif's party, the Awami League, came to power. Hanif hoped that if the Awami League came to power, the demands of his city government might be met. In an interview that day, Hanif expressed his frustration at not having a city government. He spoke of his limitations and lack of coordination. But in spite of these limitations, Mayor Hanif brought some visible changes in old Dhaka. He liberated Dhaka city from the haunted city. Sadeq Hossain Khoka became the mayor after Hanif. Khoka was also a popular leader of Dhaka. He was the only BNP candidate from Dhaka to win the 1996 elections. But in a city with such a large population like Dhaka, he was a part-time mayor. Minister of Fisheries and Animal Resources on the one hand and the Mayor of Dhaka City on the other. He could not pay attention to any of these two responsibilities.

At this time Khoka's cadres turned the city corporation into a looting arena. Even during the Awami League regime, Sadek Hossain Khoka served as the mayor for almost two years. But he could not do anything memorable as mayor. After the Awami League government came to power in 2009, it decided to divide Dhaka into two parts to make it better and more dynamic. In many large cities of the world, city corporations have been divided in this way for the convenience of work. For example, three city corporations of Delhi have been formed. North, South and East. Two city corporations were formed in Dhaka, in that concept. Elections are also held after the city corporations are divided. Anisul Haque was elected mayor in the north and Saeed Khokon in the south. Anisul Haque was the first to open the eyes of the city dwellers by becoming the mayor of North City Corporation. In a short time, he proved that power is nothing but innovation and skill. Involving the people. Thinking of the people. Planning with partners, not alone. In a short time, Anisul Haque presented some examples of changing Dhaka. He is the only mayor of Dhaka who went to the root of the problem and tried to solve it. He took steps to alleviate traffic congestion in Dhaka by evicting illegal truck stands in Tejgaon, vacating Gabtali bus stand and using 'Dhaka Chaka'. At least Dhaka North would have changed if some of his work had been completed. Such as removal of Karwan Bazar, tree planting etc. Anisul Haque did not say it was not his responsibility. Rather, he took the people with him and extended the scope of responsibility. After the death of Anisul Haque, Dhaka North got a new mayor. The new mayor said he would end Anisul Haque's unfulfilled dream. He did indeed. Instead of the small size bus of 'Dhaka Chaka', he dropped huge busses at Gulshan-Banani. Which is now the main reason for traffic jam in that area. The two mayors are now another new torture like noise and air pollution. Now sick of the unbearable oppression of noise and suffocating air pollution, we can only ask, what is the need of a mayor in this city?