- Home
- Historical
- Dhaka
- Hatirjheel
Hatirjheel
Dhaka, Bangladesh
One of the pleasures of my daily commute to work is experiencing the lakefront at Hatirjheel. Not always can you write pleasure and commute in one sentence when it comes to Dhaka. I look at the disciplined queue of people availing water taxis, at a controlled number of public buses, reflecting on an ideal cityscape. I guess only our olive-clad brothers can claim such city serenity while staying not far from the madding crowd. For the rest of Dhakaites, the place is a pleasant respite.
This integrated development of the Hatirjheel and Begunbari areas recently earned a bronze prize in the landscape architecture/urban design category awarded by the Architecture MasterPrize. In its citation, the award committee hails the "Urban Oasis" for symbolising "a remarkable example of environmental restoration and remain[ing] as a source of inspiration for environmental restorations throughout Bangladesh."
Little did the awarding agency know that inspiration is not an incentive for the current management authority of the project, which includes multiple stakeholders, including Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB), Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk), the Department of Environment, the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), and the city corporation. The sustainability of the project depends on the coordination among these public offices. With the contract period for post-handover service coming to an end, the government agencies are back to their proverbial bureaucratic entanglement. The unkempt gardens and footpaths as well as the wears and tears are tell-tale signs of mismanagement.
While doing a background check for this piece, I came to learn that the annual maintenance cost of the project is about Tk 18 crore, Tk 7 crore of which is required to purify the lake water. The project runs on a deficit as only Tk 10 crore is earned through renting commercial spaces and other services. The intra-ministerial agencies are not willing to cover the deficit. On June 30, 2021, the High Court intervened with its directive to declare Hatirjheel as a public trust property. While the High Court's recommendations are ideal, one of them decreed the removal of commercial places like the eateries from the lakefront. Last month, a stay order on the High Court decision was issued by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court. The status quo suggests a lack of planning in making the project sustainable for the long term.
Address: Hatirjheel Bridge, Dhaka 1208
Share...
Other Travel Place in Dhaka