Billboards spoil beauty

THOUGH 14 months have passed since the inauguration of the Hatirjheel project area, the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) has failed to form a separate body for the management of the lake area that stands aloof from the rest of the capital in its beauty, according to a report published by a local daily on Friday. In the absence of proper monitoring, as many as 60 commercial billboards have been erected around the project area, overshadowing the beauty of the lake, which became a popular recreation spot for the people of the city right after its inauguration on January 2 last year. However, neither the Rajuk nor Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) has taken any measure yet to remove these unauthorised hoardings.
When approached, officials concerned of Bangladesh Army, which is implementing the project jointly with Rajuk, Dhaka WASA and the LGED, blamed this on the Rajuk and the DNCC. “It is the duty of the Rajuk and the DNCC to conduct the drives and we (Army) several times issued letters asking them to take actions but got no result,” said Major Kazi Shakil, project officer of the Hatirjheel development project, as per the report. When his attention was drawn to this, Rajuk Chairman Nurul Huda said they would take actions against the billboards soon – but no specific time frame was given.
All of this shows, once again, that the very government bodies who should be most interested in taking care of the aesthetic beauty of the city and the safety of its citizens are the ones who are most completely apathetic towards taking any decision which would remove the vitiation of major architectural and aesthetic projects to make Dhaka city look better. It is no great matter to coordinate different government bodies so that they have one common objective – but it seems that the actions which occur are attempts at inaction. No one cares about the beauty of the city. No one is bothered to find out whether these billboards have been built using strict building safety measures and will therefore not come crashing down in one of the fierce nor’westers which hit the city in the monsoon months. Thoughts about the safety and well-being of citizens are apparently not high in the agenda of the concerned authorities who should infact, be most concerned.
What will have to happen to change this ‘I see no evil” attitude? Will it take a storm which throws a billboard right on the rooftop of a high officials house – or cause even more damage in terms of lives lost for officials to spring to action? One hopes that such dramatic ideas remain only a concept and that the concerned authorities wake up to the possibilities of chaos before it is too late.