Govt dev programmes in urban areas only for rich

They said the government is only focusing on the urban development without taking the environmental issues into consideration, thereby creating a lot of environment problems.

The Awami League organised the roundtable on 'Unplanned urbanisation and its impact on the environment', with Obaidul Quader, joint general secretary of the party, as the chief guest.

The population in urban areas has increased to 2.5 crore within the last 30 years and the number is increasing at a rate of 6 percent, but no government has taken any initiatives to check the trend, said Prof Dr Nurul Islam Nazem.

As a result, the urban system has lost its equilibrium in all aspects, he said, adding that the demand for water in Dhaka city is 210 crore litres, but the Wasa can supply only 150 crore litres of water.

Forty percent of the people living in the city are poor, but the authorities do not have any plan for them to supply water and electricity, he said. And about 54 lakh people are living in 9,048 slums in the six cities, he added.

He also said the city has been experiencing sever water and air pollution due to lack of proper planning.

Prof AQM Mahbub suggested relocating industrial units and some government offices in order to reduce traffic congestion in the city.

Prof AK Azad Chowdhury, former vice-chancellor of the Dhaka University, said it is high time to take steps to prevent the migration of the rural people to the cities.

The price of lands has increased manifold due to unplanned urbanisation in the last five years, he said.

Dr Hossain Mansur also spoke at the roundtable moderated by Dr Hasan Mahmud, environment and forest secretary of the Awami League. MA Mannan, chairman of Environment and Forest sub-committee of the AL, chaired the session.