Speeding up Dhaka

[Hammer-fist]

Barun Roy: Speeding up Dhaka

Barun Roy: Speeding up Dhaka

The Bangladeshi capital may at last be up on its feet to embrace much-needed 'urbanisation' with new flyovers and expressways

Barun Roy / Jan 24, 2013, 00:45 IST

In a city where 45,000 people on average live on every square kilometre of space, making it one of the world’s most congested, and it often takes two to three hours to negotiate a 20 km distance, even a railway overpass counts as a big urban milestone. That’s exactly how Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina described an 804 metre overpass she opened at Dhaka’s Banani railway crossing recently, and one understands why. The crossing used to be one of the city’s worst traffic bottlenecks, with more than 70 trains going past everyday. It’s not anymore.

Another “milestone” greeted Dhaka’s 15.4 million cribbed residents early in the New Year, perhaps with a better claim to be called so. A comprehensive redevelopment of the area around Hatirjheel, in the works since December 2008, was formally thrown open to the public, creating a new 10.8 km road link between eastern and western Dhaka and extensive footpaths, lakeside walkways and recreation facilities. People hailed it as a much-awaited blessing. Some called it “heaven”.

Other “milestones” are on their way, and it looks like Dhaka, one of the least, if not the least, liveable of the world’s cities, is at last up on its feet and ready to move. The 1.7 km Mirpur Airport Road flyover and a link bridge to connect it with the Banani overpass are to be opened in March. The 9 km Gulistan-Jatrabari flyover, having four-lane divided carriageways in both directions, is also likely to open around that time, easing up traffic in southern Dhaka. The 3 km Banani-Kuril flyover could open anytime before then. And, keeping up the flurry of activities, plans have been approved for a second elevated highway, a 13.32 km link between Shantinagar and Dhaka-Mawa Road.
But the biggest “milestone” of them all is going to be a mass transit railway that the government has finally decided to build for the city. It’s a $2.7 billion project, at current estimates, and will be financed largely by a $2.1 billion soft loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency ( JICA). An agreement with JICA was signed last December, raising hopes that this time it’s for real. It’s also a step in the right direction. While flyovers are useful speed-enhancers, their benefits are too local and good only for a handful – in Dhaka’s case, no more than around eight per cent – of private transport users. Only a metro network, backed by dedicated bus corridors, can make a real difference and speed up a straggling mega-city like Dhaka. Tokyo has already given an advance of $133 million to set the ball rolling.

By signing for a metro, the government has also taken a long step towards implementing its strategic transport plan for Dhaka, launched four years ago. The plan’s stated purpose is to create a network of roads, flyovers, urban railways, bus corridors and water transport systems covering an area of 17,500 sq km, including the neighbouring districts of Narayanganj, Gazipur, Munshiganj, Narsingdi and Manikganj. Behind this initiative is the realisation that Dhaka’s problems can’t be effectively solved unless its fringes are tackled at the same time, because that’s where most of the urban build-up – and “pauperisation” – takes place.

Four years on, there’s reason to be hopeful of the future. The Banani flyover was completed six months ahead of schedule, something unexpected of a country like Bangladesh – any south Asian nation for that matter – where procrastination is a normal part of governance. Construction of a much-hyped 17 km elevated expressway from the international airport to Kutubkhali on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway is ready to start this October, after two years of delays over funding and alignment issues. A 20 km bus corridor from Gazipur to the airport, cutting through Tongi and Uttara, is under-construction with assistance from the Asian Development Bank, and work on a 25 km extension to Sadarghat, with World Bank funding, could begin in a year’s time.

As the plans now stand and have been agreed with JICA, the proposed metro will be a 20.1 km elevated track linking the northern suburbs of Uttara with Motijheel, via Mirpur and the city centre. The first phase, an 11 km stretch from Pallabi in Mirpur to Sonargaon Hotel, is supposed to be in place by 2019, while the 4.4 km second phase from Sonargaon Hotel to Motijheel, is to follow a year later. The third and final phase, 4.7 km, from Pallabi to Uttara, is targeted for completion by 2022.

A single metro line, of course, won’t solve all Dhaka’s problems, with its population threatening to swell to 25 million by 2025, but it’s a welcome beginning. Along with all the flyovers and expressways and bus corridors that are being or proposed to be built in the near future, a metro could indeed transform Dhaka into a visibly different city in the next 10 years, significantly more mobile and liveable than it is now.

Barun Roy: Speeding up Dhaka

 

[livingdead]

Good job bd. Its good for India too.

 

[Hammer-fist]

Good job bd. Its good for India too.

How?

Please explain.

 

[livingdead]

How?

Please explain.

It will lead to more economic activity which is beneficial to India as economic partner.

 

[Hammer-fist]

It will lead to more economic activity which is beneficial to India as economic partner.

Fair enough.

The traffic in Dhaka is a mess and needs to be sorted out urgently.

If our corrupt politicians don't get their act together then the millions of poor people in Dhaka will one day do a Tahrir Square style revolt and lynch our politicians and the student thug bodies they control to impose their rule.

 

[livingdead]

Fair enough.

The traffic in Dhaka is a mess and needs to be sorted out urgently.

If our corrupt politicians don't get their act together then the millions of poor people in Dhaka will one day do a Tahrir Square style revolt and lynch our politicians and the student thug bodies they control to impose their rule.

I dont think tahrir square will happen in BD, do you have such massive open ground.
In any case bd is on right growth track, as long as you keep your head down and not insult big powers and maintain balance for next few decades, things will be good for poor people.

 

[Hammer-fist]

I dont think tahrir square will happen in BD, do you have such massive open ground.
In any case bd is on right growth track, as long as you keep your head down and not insult big powers and maintain balance for next few decades, things will be good for poor people.

I think we've averaged:

3% economic growth in the 70s.

4% in the 80s.

5% in the 90s.

under 6% in the 2000s

heading towards 7% in the 2010s

Our goal is to get double digit growth and be the next China. Our main problems are three fold, infrastructure (includes transport issues), energy and corruption, but we are working on all of them and making progress.

We have no interest in picking fights with any superpowers.

Having said all that, Dhaka really needs to be sorted out. Great city, has far more history and majesty than say Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur but Jahangirnagar (former royal name for Dhaka) needs to be fixed!

 

[UKBengali]

BD could be growing at 10% a year this decade but it cannot due to the incompetence and corruption of the political system.

Anyway around 7% a year is not bad and should allow for most of the absolute poverty to be wiped out by the end of this decade.

If the historical progression is maintained and BD progresses to 8% a year GDP growth average next decade then this would not be bad.

 

[Maira La]

If the historical progression is maintained and BD progresses to 8% a year GDP growth average next decade then this would not be bad.

What's important is that we need to make this growth sustainable. Policy makers need to study the success stories of countries like Taiwan, Malaysia and South Korea. They all diversified their manufacturing base at some point. Garments and remittance can only take us so far.

 

[UKBengali]

What's important is that we need to make this growth sustainable. Policy makers need to study the success stories of countries like Taiwan, Malaysia and South Korea. They all diversified their manufacturing base at some point. Garments and remittance can only take us so far.

Garments are fine for another decade or two before BD loses competitiveness in this sector.

Shipbuilding, pharmaceuticals, IT and light engineering need to become other motors of the economy - there is evidence of some government support and growth in all these sectors.

BD will not(at least not in the medium term) be as efficient or well-planned like those countries due to the inefficient two-party BNP/BAL system but it somehow seems to be making progress in the correct direction.

 

[Icewolf]

Dhaka needs to sort its infrastructure & population problems

 

[Maira La]

Garments are fine for another decade or two before BD loses competitiveness in this sector.

Shipbuilding, pharmaceuticals, IT and light engineering need to become other motors of the economy - there is evidence of some government support and growth in all these sectors.

BD will not(at least not in the medium term) be as efficient or well-planned like those countries due to the inefficient two-party BNP/BAL system but it somehow seems to be making progress in the correct direction.

The fact that we're comfortable with how BD is progressing worries me. Make no mistake, our growth is entirely based on the virtue of having a large, young, cheap labor force. So it's no miracle that our economy is growing despite all the political problems. I like to call this passive growth, not a managed growth (China's model of growth).

 

[Gyp 111]

you guys are big power

I dont think tahrir square will happen in BD, do you have such massive open ground.
In any case bd is on right growth track, as long as you keep your head down and not insult big powers and maintain balance for next few decades, things will be good for poor people.

 

[animelive]

To solve the traffic problem, we need competent police and civilized drivers. Everytime i see the roads of BD, in two sides of the road, there are either Rickshaws or Cars parked. The buses make a stop in the middle of the road halting the movement of any vehicles along that path. The police surprisingly doesn't give two shits about these. And also Rickshaws should be removed from main roads where there are too much cars. If these are never solved, i don't see a stop to traffic problems even if huge roads are built.

 

[livingdead]

you guys are big power

yes, India is, in your neighbourhood a regional power. Because of proximity, there is no way your leaders can do something without taking India on board. USA/Russia and china are global power, you cant mess with them.
Finally EU is a financial powerhouse and a big trading partner, you should listen to them.

The fact that we're comfortable with how BD is progressing worries me. Make no mistake, our growth is entirely based on the virtue of having a large, young, cheap labor force. So it's no miracle that our economy is growing despite all the political problems. I like to call this passive growth, not a managed growth (China's model of growth).

China has unique political system with eastern asian workforce, there is no way south asian country can replicate china (in manufacturing).