Ego tussle between Ctg civic bodies should stop

With the early onset of monsoon, city dwellers in the port city are facing immeasurable misery as large swathes of the city are inundated. In between, the relation between Chattogram City Corporation, CCC, and Chattogram Development Authority, CDA, has become strained, leading to what seems to be an infantile clash of egos.

The CDA was given the task of re-excavating, renovating and unclogging the city canals in a Tk5,616 crore project and while they are performing the task, a misunderstanding has taken place as to which civic body, CDA or CCC, should clean up the roads and tackle water-logging.

CCC, in a circular printed in the media, asked forgiveness from the residents of the port city since they were not being able to help in mitigating the water related woes; this was countered by another circular from CDA, which highlighted that they had cleared 20 lakh cubic feet of silt.

All this is pretty unsavoury with the actual picture on the roads totally abysmal. Both these bodies are government run and, therefore, acting like implacable political opponents will hardly solve the problem.

The city has been facing water related complications for a long period so unless there is a coordinated approach with two sides working together, the suffering will never reduce.

Since CDA is engaged in canal improvement work, they can concentrate on keeping the water bodies under their work purview in running order, giving CCC the task to look after other roads and other water bodies.

Once there is a clear delineation of tasks, chances of tussles will automatically fall. To ensure that city dwellers get some reprieve, a deadline can be set down.

Also, another intelligent approach would be to involve port based business conglomerates to come with support as part of corporate social responsibility. If CSR objectives are set by the city-corporation then Chattogram entrepreneurs and business houses can be made to do their part in providing logistical or other support.

To deal with the current fall out between CCC and CDA, the government can announce special awards for joint success in making the city more liveable.

Ego tussle between Ctg civic bodies should stop

With the early onset of monsoon, city dwellers in the port city are facing immeasurable misery as large swathes of the city are inundated. In between, the relation between Chattogram City Corporation, CCC, and Chattogram Development Authority, CDA, has become strained, leading to what seems to be an infantile clash of egos. The CDA was given the task of re-excavating, renovating and unclogging the city canals in a Tk5,616 crore project and while they are performing the task, a misunderstanding has taken place as to which civic body, CDA or CCC, should clean up the roads and tackle water-logging. CCC, in a circular printed in the media, asked forgiveness from the residents of the port city since they were not being able to help in mitigating the water related woes; this was countered by another circular from CDA, which highlighted that they had cleared 20 lakh cubic feet of silt. All this is pretty unsavoury with the actual picture on the roads totally abysmal. Both these bodies are government run and, therefore, acting like implacable political opponents will hardly solve the problem. The city has been facing water related complications for a long period so unless there is a coordinated approach with two sides working together, the suffering will never reduce. Since CDA is engaged in canal improvement work, they can concentrate on keeping the water bodies under their work purview in running order, giving CCC the task to look after other roads and other water bodies. Once there is a clear delineation of tasks, chances of tussles will automatically fall. To ensure that city dwellers get some reprieve, a deadline can be set down. Also, another intelligent approach would be to involve port based business conglomerates to come with support as part of corporate social responsibility. If CSR objectives are set by the city-corporation then Chattogram entrepreneurs and business houses can be made to do their part in providing logistical or other support. To deal with the current fall out between CCC and CDA, the government can announce special awards for joint success in making the city more liveable.