A news report published in The News Times on Sunday drew our attention. The report says a mobile court of Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) in a drive on Saturday demolished two unauthorised police boxes built on footpath in front of Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital (SSMCH) in the capital. The two police boxes were built illegally on the busy footpath in front of the hospital causing immense sufferings to people including treatment seekers and students of educational institutions in the area. DNCC Mayor Atiqul Islam was present during the drive that was conducted by Zonal Officer of Zone No-5 and Executive Magistrate Mutakabbir Ahmed.
Mayor Atiqul said that the footpaths will have to be freed from illegal structures to ensure safe and smoother movement of pedestrians. The footpaths of the area have been widened taking into account the huge movement of people as there are many hospitals and educational institutions in the area. The city corporation is keen to give land to police department to set up police boxes if needed, he added.
As part of drive, the DNCC also demolished some 33 shops built illegally at Banani Kachabazar on Friday.
This is a welcome move indeed. Footpaths are for pedestrians to walk freely. But in Dhaka footpaths in many places are illegally occupied in different ways. In some areas, the entire footpaths are used as extension of shopping outlets or markets, in some areas as parking place for motorcycles, while in many areas as extension of car or motorcycle workshops. A large part of the footpaths in Motijheel and Gulistan areas are occupied by the hawkers forcing the pedestrians to walk through the main streets not only affecting vehicular movements but also creating risks of accidents. This is unfortunate that the successive governments have failed to make alternative arrangement for hawkers to free the footpaths from their illegal occupation.
The most appreciable part of Saturday’s drive was that the DNCC demolished illegal structures created by the law enforcing agencies as police boxes. Similar illegal police boxes are also seen in front of some embassies in the diplomatic areas, Gulshan in particular. As a law enforcing agency this is not expected from the police forces to create such illegal structures on footpaths or areas they are not authorized. Law is equal for all and the police forces entrusted with the task of enforcing laws must not act beyond law.
We hope the DNCC will find out these illegal structures and take similar actions to free the footpaths. It should also clear spaces occupied illegally by shopping outlets or markets and car workshops as well. The authorities should also think seriously about an alternative arrangement for hawkers to free the footpaths. Examples of such arrangement are available in many Asian countries, including India and Hong Kong.
