Annisul to make footpath hawker-free soon

Dhaka, 20 Jan- Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Mayor M Annisul Huq on Wednesday said footpaths along major roads in the city, including Mirpur, New Airport and Panthapath Road, will be freed by demolishing illegal makeshift establishments by April next. The mayor came up with the assurance while addressing a program at Bangladesh University in the capital. If any establishment cannot be demolished then those will be restructured in such a way so that pedestrians can move smoothly, he said. The Mayor also said water-logging problem in Dhaka city can be resolved within the next two years if WASA works under the mayors of the two city corporations. "WASA and Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) will have to work together to recover the rivers and canals, but that is not possible now. If some departments of RAJUK and WASA under the authority of the two city corporations then it will be easier to work together," Annisul said. The Mayor said the government is taking different steps including finding out terminal place for all buses and tracks. There are other plans of the authorities to run state run 3,000 buses and merge 190 private transport companies into five companies after discussion with the owners to make the city traffic disciplined.
He also said the government will set up hoarding boards behind the passenger-shade to check indiscriminate fixing of posters in the city.  Jahangir Kabir Nanak, MP, was present as the special guest with BU Board of Trustees Qazi Jamil Azhar in the chair. BU Board of Trustees members Iqbal Habib and Dr Akter Mahmud presented the research result.     -UNB