From grace to ugliness: The transformation of a glorious city

Dhaka street: Hard to keep clean.. PHOTO: Syed Zakir Hossain

If you are an early riser and in the habit of taking a brisk morning walk, the first thing you'll notice is the municipal trash bin. Spread out in a heap AROUND, not in, the garbage bin is a mound of household waste that not only represents environmental threats, but is also an unsightly scene. And if you're out for fresh air, the smell that greets you can be quite offensive. And from this heap, little children and often some older ones carrying long jute bags seem to be making a living as they forage in the mess with bare hands (and they'll soon be using those same hands to eat) in search of anything salvageable. Occasionally you may even witness territorial battles between man and beast (dogs), each seeking to establish control over this heap to eke out a sub-human existence....compliments of our national leaders!

As you continue walking, perhaps you'll note what litters the streets. There's garbage just about everywhere and there seems to be an unwritten rule -- if you need to discard something, just toss it! Hence the kitchen peelings and leftovers, paper litter in all sizes and shapes, boxes laced with food remnants from a kabab, biryani, or chicken outlet, plastic bottles, building materials including broken pieces of bricks and glass, sand piles, bamboo, sandpaper, rope, rags, and … you name it. I even recall a dirty toilet seat in front of an apartment complex parked there for days. Add the dog, cow, goat, and on occasion human droppings all over and you can see the panoramic picture of how we treat a city with a heritage that many sparkling new cities of today cannot boast. If anyone can show me a single randomly selected clean street in Dhaka, I'll eat my words.

Interestingly, the streets that I describe are in some of the better residential neighbourhoods that make you wonder what kinds of people live there. Inside the compounds of some of these houses are lawns manicured to the blade of grass while just outside the walls is the filth that I describe reflecting the callous disregard that we have for public property and the nonchalance that we display in disposing waste in this mega-city.

The curious among you might even note what is in the open drains. Yes, vegetative matter, crumpled paper, plastic lids, wooden artifacts, tin cans, etc., all covered by a thick black gooey substance that has been building there since God knows when and breeding God knows what. And since there is no flow, this gunk is out there in an open display to be experienced in its full glory by passers-by. If you're curious about the smell, I'll let your imagination run loose on this one. Try and stay as far away as possible though! Is someone supposed to clean these drains?

Even the playgrounds of this historic city have not been spared. What a disappointment. One would expect that a congregation of athletes vying to display their physique and craft would be conscious of the environment in which they so engage. But that is not to be. There are discarded thongas (packets) everywhere and peanut shells strewn all over the place. Here too you'll find the discarded boxes that contained food items, the flicked cigarette butts and packets, the ice-cream sticks, the banana peels, the chips packets, plastic bottles, orange peels, sugarcane remnants, and so much more in such palpable presence that you wonder about the mindsets of the users of these sporting facilities. And, while you see the advertisements of various organisations on these grounds in resplendent colours, you do not see them perform their civic duties by providing waste disposal bins so that better habits are encouraged and facilitated. Honestly, I would buy and encourage others to buy products of companies that had their names on garbage disposal bins instead of on more flashy backdrops! Whatever happened to corporate social responsibility?

On the main streets of Dhaka stand ugly rows upon rows of buildings lining the streets in a bewildering pattern of structures, making it impossible to admire any architectural accomplishments. Even in our neighbouring countries, where people seem to care for their cities, the visuals are so much better. The commercial properties, in particular, fail to add any aesthetic dimension or distinction to enhance the looks of Dhaka City. Many of these structures will remain permanently embedded in the skyline: a despondent thought indeed. And in front of these properties, that have failed to provide minimal facilities for their users, are parked a bewildering array of vehicles clogging up the streets and making the city look even more ugly as they spread an ambience of disorder and clutter everywhere...thanks to RAJUK!

What about the main thoroughfares? Are they clean? Do they meet basic (let alone international) standards? These thoroughfares, that should be the sparkling emblems of the city, also look horribly ugly, deformed by the paan shops, the tea stalls, the repair garages, the fish markets, the flower shops, the furniture retailers, the clothes retailers, the balloon hawkers, the beggars, and a variety of other trade practices that just seem to sprout everywhere in nasty disorder...compliments of our town planners and enforcers of law and order! Then there are the building materials, the furniture shavings, and the rusting car parts strewn near the busy thoroughfares that add to the forlorn image of this historic city. Does nobody really care?

Let me add one final ugly paragraph, and then I'll stop this portrayal. Note how various groups -- commercial, political, social, religious -- irresponsibly and crudely display their slogans and emblems plastered, painted, or written in bold ugly letters over any empty space (boundary walls, office buildings, storefronts, etc.) afforded by private property owners. Do we have no respect for private property? Is this what we must learn as appropriate behaviours from our political, religious, and commercial leaders? The cinema posters, ads for various coaching programmes, religious announcements, and the banners of organisations of all categories continue to add to the clutter and certainly to one's indignation. Then there are the "gates" all over the city that are or will be built during elections to highlight political slogans that exacerbate the overall ugliness of the city and constrict traffic flow, while the politicians of different colors remain indifferent to their contribution to the ugliness quotient (UQ). Are there no laws with which we can ban these activities?

Why is Dhaka so ugly? I believe it's because of the crude habits and indifference of its inhabitants, and the callous disregard and/or incapacity of those in charge of the city (Dhaka City Corporation) to do something about it. Many of the people who contribute to this ugliness have seen other modern cities. They are witnesses to the array of possibilities for this city too. When overseas, these same people never litter or do all the horrible and insensitive stuff they do to their own city. Yet they succumb to their crass ways when they are back. Why? It is surely a matter of the mindset shaped by overall irresponsibility for one's acts (learned generously from our leaders at all levels) and because there are no consequences for undesirable behaviour (learned partly from how criminals and other gross offenders get away each time after committing horrific acts). Is there a way out? Perhaps, by bringing about behavioral changes, we may yet reclaim this city from the ravages of its crude occupiers. One example of past success is the ban on polythene that, for fear of punishment, seems to have worked. So, there's hope!

Behaviour modification strategies have been used at various levels and are derived from the principles of operant conditioning whereby positive reinforcements, negative reinforcements, punishments, and extinction can be designed and applied judiciously. These strategies could be applied at the household level, community level, or both. At the household level, those who keep the areas beyond their compound tidy, or even upgrade it, could be rewarded in a variety of ways as they earn bonus points, while households that fail to do so would be penalised. Rewards could be in the form of symbols (a plaque, accumulated points on a scorecard, a memento, or a "spic and span" symbol to be attached to their entrance), social recognition (via community events or a newspaper story), or even financial rewards (a sum of money, reduction of municipal taxes, or some financial instruments such as prize bonds). Punishments could be in the form of fines, red cards, a warning letter from the community or municipality, or increased municipal taxes. Negative reinforcements could be the introduction of a negative emblem stamped on the property, or being placed in a public list of offenders, the emblem or names to be removed only after desirable behaviours are established or undesirable behaviours stopped. This is merely a short list that can be creatively expanded.

Similarly, communities such as the 90 Wards of the City could also be rewarded or punished for their state of cleanliness as they are ranked periodically on a scale to be determined. Local communities with the help of the municipalities could begin to devise area programmes under an umbrella project to clean up the city with the use of appropriate reinforcers. The key is to identify the goal of the programme (to clean up Dhaka City), specify target behaviours (littering, dumping, spitting, relieving, tossing, etc. or their obverse), establish reliable assessment strategies (recording the frequency with which the behaviours are performed by whom and for how long) and apply contingent reinforcements (i.e., reinforcer is applied ONLY if the target behaviour is performed). Such reinforcement must be immediate and substantial enough to make a difference.

Extensive media involvement to highlight the project, the rewards, and the punishments would be a great facilitator. If the nation's top leaders partake in this venture for others to learn vicariously, perhaps the process of transformation could be further hastened. It will also require the will and efficacy of those entrusted with the work of keeping the city clean (the Dhaka City Corporation) to get the job done. Decentralisation measures to shift a bulk of the population back to their original homesteads in the outlying districts could work wonders. But most of all, the City's inhabitants will have to wake up and see the filth around them and want to do something about it. I reiterate that Dhaka City is ugly because of its people and their ugly habits. Such habits, however, represent a state of mind that can be modified at the individual and community levels as experiences in other countries suggest. The Dhaka City Corporation, charged with the responsibility of keeping the city clean, will not get it done by merely having a complement of workers to pick up or clean up after the dirty work has been done: it must also engage strategically in changing mindsets and behaviours so that ugly habits are extinguished and replaced. Only then can we expect to see a transformed Dhaka City in its more aesthetic dimensions.

The results will not be seen overnight, but the task of reshaping behaviours must begin in right earnest unless we want to lose this glorious city to the crass ways of its present inhabitants. And if any of you really care about this city, start becoming proactive where "you" can make a difference. Usually that would mean your own home front first. And to get the City Corporation to do their job better, keep calling them (9567281) or sending them reminders (dcc@bijoy.net) about the filth in your area. Perhaps you might even send them a copy of this article (DCC, Nagarbari, Fulbaria, Dhaka); if the number of copies they receive is large enough, they might begin to see how many of you really care!

Dr. Syed Saad Andaleeb is Professor and Programme Chair of Marketing at the Sam and Irene Black School of Business, Pennsylvania State University at Erie, Editor of the Journal of Bangladesh Studies, and a Fulbright Scholar at East West University.