Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Mayor Annisul Huq on Monday said the city dwellers will see a different Dhaka within the next three years as they are working hard to modernise the city.

‘I hope this (DNCC) family will work hard in the coming days and you’ll see a different Dhaka within the next three years,’ he said mentioning that DNCC with the help of political leaders and ministers did a lot of development over the last two years, reports UNB.

The DNCC mayor was addressing a views-exchange meeting with the senior journalists at a city hotel marking the 2nd anniversary of his taking office.

Noting that a political power inspires him to modernise the city, he said, ‘There’s a clear direction from the Prime Minister that we want a change.’

Annisul Huq said the DNCC has taken initiatives to develop 32 parks and playgrounds, procure 4,000 modern buses for the city and make 11 U-turns out of 21 on Satrasta-Gazipur road to ease traffic congestions, make pedestrian-friendly footpaths, and install modern LED lamps in the streets at a cost of Tk 491 crore.

In the last two years, the DNCC recovered 3.34 lakh square feet of land, including roads and footpaths, evicting 450 permanent and 2,767 makeshift illegal structures, he added.

Besides, 32,000 saplings were planted in the city particularly in Uttara under the supervision of Prof Abdullah Abu Sayeed, installed 1,000 waste bins, set up 12 modern public toilets and 52 secondary transfer stations for waste, installed over 1,000 closed circuit cameras in Gulshan, Banani, Baridhara and Niketan, doubled the allocation (now Tk 25 crore) for curbing mosquitoes, evicted Tejgaon truck stand, removed some 20,000 illegal billboards and some 1.75 lakh illegal banners and festoons in the last two years, the DNCC mayor noted.

In the current fiscal year, DNCC cleaned 168 km of drains that saw no clean up drive in the last 20 years.

Annisul said they have a plan to plant 6,000 more saplings in Banani, Baridhara and Uttara this year.

He said they will make footpath smoother for pedestrians so that physically challenged people can also use those.

The DNCC is also in talks with the Bangladesh Air Force to remove the boundary wall of Tejgaon old airport ground as part of the beautification of the city, he added.

Mentioning that he is always ready to take challenges, the DNCC mayor said, ‘I couldn’t yet accomplish many jobs. I could complete less than 30 percent of work (in the last two years).’

Daily Samakal Editor Golam Sarwar, The Daily Star Editor Mahfuz Anam, Daily Prothom Alo Editor Matiur Rahman, Daily Kaler Kantho Editor Imdadul Haq Milon, Chief Executive Officer of Ekushey Television Monjurul Ahsan Bulbul, Daily Observer Editor Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, Head of News of Channel i Shykh Seraj and Daily Bhorer Kagoj Editor Shyamal Dutta spoke on the occasion.

Bulbul, also President of Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ), suggested that the mayor take initiatives for creating playgrounds and setting up libraries alongside other development works to promote cultural activities.

Shykh Seraj recommended cultivating vegetables on road islands of the city and considering producing fertiliser from garbage.

DNCC Chief Executive Officer Md Mesbahul Islam in his welcome speech said now the size of DNCC is some 82 square kilometres where some 90 lakh people live under 36 wards.

However, its size is going to increase to some 196 square kilometres with the inclusion of eight unions, he added.