A job nearly impossible

A city corporation cannot deliver desired services without freeing itself from government influence, checking internal corruption and ensuring proper coordination with other agencies, said leading local government and urban experts.

To elaborate their points of argument, the experts used Dhaka city as the example, saying that the situation in the capital is ideal to describing those in other city corporations.

A total of 18 ministries and 56 government departments carry out development activities in the capital city, said Prof Sarwar Jahan of Urban Planning at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet).

"So, the city corporation will not be in a position to function effectively and serve the city dwellers unless it gets precedence over other agencies in a city government system," he said.

The need for a revised city government system was also stressed by local government researcher Prof Zarina Rahman Khan.

Moreover, it has to function as a vibrant council of all the elected councillors, not just an institution run by the mayor only, said the professor of Public Administration at Dhaka University.

Besides, there's no clear definition of what the actual area of Dhaka city is, said Dr Tofail Ahmed, a leading local government researcher.

The area of undivided Dhaka city corporation was 127 square kilometres while the city's master plan prepared by Rajuk puts it at 1,528 sqkm. The area is 3,500 sqkm according to the Strategic Transport Plan while the statistical metropolitan area is 1,350 sqkm and Wasa area is 360 sqkm.

"Now, which area should the city corporations serve?" asked Tofail.

Despite being located right inside the city, a sprawling private housing project known as Basundhara Residential Area is not under the city corporation's jurisdiction. Interestingly, its residents enjoy all the city services without paying any tax at all, he said.

"Then again, the city corporations are overwhelmed with rampant corruption, lack of competent manpower, anarchy and chaos ... They lack required fund, legal and administrative authorities as well," he went on.

While water, electricity and gas supplies are some basic civic services, the city corporation has to depend on Wasa, Titas Gas, Desco and DPDC for these. Rajuk, BTCL and Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority -- all of them are unitary bodies while Dhaka city corporation is impractically divided into two.

So, there has to be a lead agency to coordinate among various government bodies to make the city corporation function effectively, as it happens in Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai, he said.

Waste management, maintenance of roads and footpaths, mosquito control, street lighting, city beautification and collecting taxes are some of the top duties of the city corporations.

But they cannot free 400km of footpaths in Dhaka North and Dhaka South of illegal occupation for want of police personnel and magistrates required for the job, said a high official of Dhaka South City Corporation, wishing anonymity.

"The only sidewalks that are free from illegal occupation are the ones in front of the Prime Minister's Office, exclusive government residential neighbourhoods on Minto Road and Hare Road, the prime minsiter's official residence Gono Bhaban and the president's residence Bangabhaban.

"The city footpaths can never be recovered for the pedestrians unless the political authority decides so and takes administrative actions," he said.

The entire city is plagued by mismanagement in waste collection system.

"The city corporation has to depend on Rajuk to get a garbage collection site and at present there is no space left for such a site ... How can then the city corporation deliver its services in a desirable way?" the DSCC official said.

For repairing roads, the city guardians have to depend on the authorities that provide water and sewage and electricity, telephone, gas and internet connections as these bodies have underground service lines running along the city roads.

The two corporations need Tk 600 crores every year on an average to take care of the city roads but Tk 250 crores is all they can spend form the revenue earnings.

"All the roads will be repaired only if government fund is available,” said a high official of Dhaka North City Corporation. He too wished not to be named.

The city almost invariably every year sees a lot of road digging during the monsoon (June-September) and people's sufferings knows no bounds. But the city corporation has nothing to do about this.

"The government agencies usually get approvals for such work immediately before the end of a fiscal year. Top government officials, including the ministers, press us for allowing the road digging. Can the city corporation mayor turn such government heavyweights down?" said another DNCC official.

There's more.

Almost all the 19 departments of the two city corporations in Dhaka are headed by government officials on deputation and they are not familiar with the city corporation functions, he said.

The city corporation authorities can spray anti-mosquito chemicals but Wasa and Rajuk too have to keep the canals and wetlands under their jurisdictions clean to check mosquito menace in the city, he went on.

Speaking about the helplessness of the city corporations, the DNCC official said: "We have virtually lost control over illegal billboards across the city. The government agencies lease their roadside areas, the Airport and Abdul Gani roads for example, for commercial hoardings at random, even though it is the city corporation's job to permit such installations."