Dhaka: What could be saved easily through rapid ‘political decentralisation’ is being destroyed with its unplanned expansion and building heavy structures everywhere, experts say about Dhaka.

Talking to UNB, urban planner and former University Grants Commission chairman Nazrul Islam, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) professor Sarwar Jahan and Khulna University’s Urban and Rural Planning Department professor Rezaul Haque said there is no alternative to decentralisation to reduce pressure on Dhaka.

They suggest decentralising government offices and relocating key installations and industries, mainly tanneries and readymade garment factories, from the capital to elsewhere to bring it back on track.

Stressing the need for a strong political will of parties, especially the one in power, they advocated for a comprehensive, practical and farsighted plan to save the country’s capital, which remains at the bottom of global ranking for the past five years.

A report published by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) in August last year ranked Dhaka as the second least liveable city in the world.

According to another report conducted by United Nations in 2014, Dhaka is the 11th most populous city of the world with a population just under 1.7 crore. Dhaka was the 24^th in 1990 with only 66.21 lakh people and saw a 3.6 percent annual rise in its population between 2010 and 2015, the report said.

Nazrul Islam said the problems of Dhaka city are very serious and complex. ‘There had been assurances from the highest political level to make Dhaka a liveable and dynamic city. But, we hardly see similarity between the commitment and actions ...political leaders don’t bother about Dhaka. They must take care of it because the development of entire country largely depends on Dhaka,’ he said.

Noting that political, administrative and socio-economic decentralisation is a must for the overall development of the country, the urban planner said, ‘We must start with political decentralisation… Political decentralisation means strengthening local government. Then we’ll have to go for administrative and socioeconomic decentralisation.’

He also noted that the scope and opportunities have to be increased at divisional, district and upazila levels for meaningful decentralisation.

Prof Sarwar Jahan said it is a must to empower local government institutions for effective decentralisation. ‘In the present context, no local government institution is independent. All are dependent on the central government to discharge their duties. In many countries, mainly in developed ones, local government institutions are very strong. They have policies to run local government institutions,’ he said.

Proper decentralisation takes place when local government institutions enjoy the power to work out plans and implement those accordingly, said Prof Sarwar.

‘Then economic opportunities will be created at the grassroots level and people will hardly come to Dhaka seeking jobs as most people now come to the capital in search of jobs,’ he continued.

Rezaul Haque said there is no alternative to decentralisation to reduce pressure on Dhaka. ‘Why are all the important offices located in Dhaka? Shipping Ministry can be relocated to either Khulna or Chittagong. This is how Agriculture Ministry can be shifted to Rangpur. If we don’t think this way, the pressure on Dhaka will never ease.’

He questioned further, ‘Why all garment factories be located in Dhaka? Why not outside of it? If it’s set up outside Dhaka, people from rural areas will get greater scope of jobs.’

Haque said the unwillingness of political parties has been the main reason behind the absence of proper decentralisation in Bangladesh.

‘Political parties, mainly the ruling ones, consider that if Dhaka remains under their grip, everything will remain under their control.  So they don’t want to think of anything outside Dhaka. They should come out from that mindset.’