The crisis of governance in city management has reached such a deplorable stage that it could be no worse. Citizens are enduring immense misery. Basic civic amenities are just not there. Pollution is the highest among all comparable cities. Stench from open or poorly constructed drains and sewers have made life intolerable. Only 75% of the city’s population has access to the water supply. Of 13 lakh cubic meters of effluent produced daily, only 120,000 cubic meters are treated. The sewerage system covers only 20% of the population and 30% of the city area. Only 50% of 4000 MT of solid waste is collected daily. That also is transported in open trucks and during the daytime, a practice which cannot be acceptable to any modern city. Even hospital waste is not collected regularly. Garbage is piled up to rot, and decomposing in and out of open bins it emits a terrible stench. It dries and becomes dirt particles that are scattered in the streets and in the air to be inhaled by citizens. Drains are choked with solid waste causing flooding in many parts of the city during the rainy season. Only 55% of the city area is covered by some sort of drainage system.

There are many other depressing facts of city life. Graffiti on the walls makes the city look like a public lavatory. Billboards, neon signs and pillars everywhere make the city look like an eerie ghost town and these distractions cause daily accidents. Roads are narrow and incapable of handling the increased traffic. Slow-moving, non-motorized vehicles constitute almost 56% of all traffic, and they occupy 73% of road space. In addition, when VIP movements take place, all roads are blocked. This causes regular traffic jams and waste away valuable time of working people, leading to a loss in productivity.
Uncollected and rotten garbage litters the city. Poorly constructed roads, open sewerage and drains, manholes without covers and streets with gaping holes and without lights render movement on foot around the city extremely hazardous. Stagnant ponds are filled with wastewater, the unpleasant odor of humans faeces and the habit of urinating publicly on street-sides makes it most distasteful for citizens to move about outdoors in Dhaka. Contaminated air and water make our city a breeding ground for epidemics of all types of infectious and injurious diseases. Many parts of the city are unfit for human habitation.
Pollution of all types ? air, water, noise and industrial ? has become dangerous and seriously injurious to public health. The lead content, sulphur dioxide (SO2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the air are too high. The oxygen content in the air has dropped and is getting lower day by day. The standard of health care in our hospitals and clinics has become the lowest in the region. The educational standards in our schools and colleges have become irrelevant in the technologically advanced global society. Educational institutions lack playgrounds, libraries and adequate facilities for cultural activities. Low teaching standards, inadequate indoor and outdoor sports and cultural facilities and the lack of discipline within schools are degrading the moral values of our children. They are more and more attracted to violence, chandabaji, mastaani, drug addiction, porno movies and other anti-social activities. City conditions are breeding child labor and child beggars while sending younger women into many anti-social and unethical activities. All this is having a tremendously unhealthy effect on the physical and psychological development of the younger generation in the city.

Dhaka possesses very few playgrounds, stadiums, parks, wood lots, swimming pools, water fronts, public libraries, theatre halls, art galleries, exhibition halls or museums. Meanwhile, political violence, social unrest, unemployment, theft, fraudulent practices, violent crimes, mugging, murder, acid-throwing, rape, extortion, illicit toll collection, etc., are making the life of every citizen not just insecure but agonizing. Organizations designed to manage different aspects of life and societies are completely controlled by political machinery and/or vested interest groups. They are acting contrary to the interest of the general public. Lack of good city governance is the root cause, discouraging donors and multilateral agencies from taking any concerted initiative to assist the city.
No other city in any civilized country on earth would allow such a situation. In fact, civilized countries would have declared parts of the city abandoned and enforced evacuation. Dhaka City provides perhaps an exemplary testimony of human neglect and failure of governance in a national capital in this modern age. It has all the symptoms of a sick and dying city.

Although one can honestly blame Bangladeshi politics in part for this disastrous failure of city administration, ultimately the blame squarely falls on the City Corporation. The City Corporation Mayor and commissioners are elected directly by the citizens of Dhaka. Citizens themselves must bear the responsibility. The Mayor they elect should be capable enough not just to arrest the nosedive of the city administration but to reverse its path for the better. Immediate reforms must be undertaken to bring good governance, increase social capital, fight against corruption, unite rather than divide the community and bring transparency, efficiency and accountability in city government to improve civic amenities and the quality of life.