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Dhaka\'s urban waterways need more attention

| Updated: October 19, 2017 15:31:21


Dhaka\'s urban waterways need more attention

Dhaka requires a radical restructuring of its transportation network in alignment with its dynamic growth - physical and social. Since Dhaka consists of an aquatic geography, a waterborne transportation system with waterbuses and water-taxis will be instrumental in developing appropriate infrastructure  on that front. Moreover, nothing can be more useful to the city's residents other than the implementation and expansion of a rapid transit system along its surrounding rivers - the Buriganga, the Turag, the Shitalakshya, the Bangshi and the Balu.
Indeed, the way policymakers once turned their backs to Dhaka's aquatic feature is slowly changing due to recent government steps to link inner-city canals and suburban water bodies simultaneously with a viable system of waterways connecting different parts of the capital and beyond. The cabinet approved revision of the 20-year old Strategic Transport Plan (RSTP) including a circular waterway across Dhaka. Additionally, the government completed the first phase of Hatirjheel-Begunbari Integrated Lake Development Project in 2016 to connect Karwan Bazar and Badda via a 3.75 kilometre waterway. Obviously, the purpose is to ease the transport burden on Dhaka's clogged roads and facilitate its residents with greater connectivity throughout the city and additionally offer public recreation. The project's extension to Gulshan-Banani-Baridhara lake area is still in the pipeline
Although similar services exist in Dhaka's suburban areas located along the Turag River with water buses - this is the first time for water taxis to begin operations inside Dhaka. Bright new vessels on  Hatirjheel water give a splendid spectacle. Despite a long overhaul, Dhaka's water taxi services have revived the capital's commuting system. Cheap transport costs are appealing to Dhaka's residents. A water taxi with toilet facility also includes a small canteen selling snacks, drinks and confectionaries- serves commuters with a joy ride! The project can make room for further innovation and investments.
However, irregularity and inconsistency in the maintenance and operations of the circular waterways can earn the project along with water-taxi services unpopularity. In 2013, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) inaugurated the Turag River's waterbus project covering 29 kilometres and consisting of 12 waterbuses. Difficulties have been encountered at points of low-altitude bridges constructed earlier. Loaded vessels cannot cross and ply during dry seasons due to low depth of water in the rivers or inter-city canals and lakes. Some of the landing stations, terminal buildings and other structures along the planned circular waterways are almost ruined due to a lack of maintenance and proper care. Numerous leaseholders have rented out the terminal buildings to some traders who turned such buildings into commercial warehouses for construction materials. Allegedly, drug addicts and other criminals have been using the abandoned infrastructure for numerous anti-social activities.
 The two private waterbus services stopped carrying passengers within a few months as commuters avoided the waterway when it became unfriendly for various reasons - lack of transport safety, proper navigability, mismanagement, service inefficiency and other problems.
Furthermore, framing the edge of Dhaka's metropolitan rivers with a new language of development appropriate to riverside activities can fix the mass transportation problem, enhance urban economic growth and give further incentives for public recreation. In most cases, riverbanks are politically abused because no sustainable model exists for their use. Appropriate riverside development will narrow the overlap between the city and rivers. Dhaka's riverbanks should be inter-connected and extended to the inner-city reservoirs with a continual public promenade consisting of walkways, terraces, gardens, floating islands and pavilions alongside state-of-the-art terminal buildings and landing stations for commuters and commerce. Aside from being components of a riverside promenade, such establishments will become dynamic hubs for better communication, commerce and socio-cultural programmes in the long run.

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