Stunts are no substitutes for well conceived actions

There are many aspects of poor governance in DSCC not capable of inclusion or mention in the small space provided here. But it should suffice to say that the Mayor�s stunt mongering can be no substitutes for actual attainments

The recent display of activism by the Mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) from Sunday in evicting hawkers from the footpaths in the Gulistan area is likely to be doubtful from the points of view of popularity or appreciation. Only weeks ago the  actions of the Mayor of the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) were  received with positive enthusiasm in the media in general and cheered by long suffering people on the whole. The way Mayor Anisul Haque of DNCC used a combination of tough methods, persuasion and reconciliation to free a large traffic tangled area in the Kawaranbazar- Tejgaon area in the heart of the city was welcomed by all except the small interest groups who were creating the mess there.
We do not know for sure. But it could be that the kudos earned by the DNCC Mayor may have prompted the DSCC Mayor into going for a similar eviction drive in the Gulistan area. As it existed, there could not be a comparison between the two city areas in terms creating distresses for the city’s commuters and pedestrians. While the Kawranbazar-Tejgaon areas were indeed creating nightmarish difficulties for passing through by the citizens and their vehicles, the Gulistan area in comparison posed no such great ordeals. Of course, the footpaths in Gulistan were largely occupied by hawkers, yet the main road there remained reasonably and largely usable for traffic unlike in the previous state of the Kawaranbazar-Tejgaon area.
Therefore, clearing of the Kawranbazar-Tejgaon area signalled as a far higher priority and this task was neatly accomplished to the  satisfaction of citizens. In contrast, clearing of the footpaths in Gulistan looked like a marginal need but the way the DSCC Mayor is seen as savagely engaging himself to bulldozing and evicting there, will very likely earn for him no admiration for either attending vigorously to a very great need or doing what he is doing with vision or empathy for the dislodged people and their ways of subsistence earnings.
Thus, none should be blamed for accusing the DSCC Mayor for aiming more at the camera than applying himself to the truly urgent needs of mitigating the real sufferings of citizens under his jurisdiction.
Take for instance, the pot-holed and tattered conditions of roads in many places within the DSCC; specially sections of the roads on two sides of the Mayor Hanif Bridge hardly deserve to be called roads anymore—so badly battered their appearances are today. Many roads in the DSCC were paved only months ago in the early part of the tenure of the present Mayor but have crumbled astonishingly fast suggesting unforgivable corruption in these works in the first place.
There are many aspects of poor governance in DSCC not capable of inclusion or mention in the small space provided here. But it should suffice to say that the Mayor’s stunt mongering can be no substitutes for actual attainments.

Stunts are no substitutes for well conceived actions

There are many aspects of poor governance in DSCC not capable of inclusion or mention in the small space provided here. But it should suffice to say that the Mayor�s stunt mongering can be no substitutes for actual attainments

The recent display of activism by the Mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) from Sunday in evicting hawkers from the footpaths in the Gulistan area is likely to be doubtful from the points of view of popularity or appreciation. Only weeks ago the actions of the Mayor of the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) were received with positive enthusiasm in the media in general and cheered by long suffering people on the whole. The way Mayor Anisul Haque of DNCC used a combination of tough methods, persuasion and reconciliation to free a large traffic tangled area in the Kawaranbazar- Tejgaon area in the heart of the city was welcomed by all except the small interest groups who were creating the mess there. We do not know for sure. But it could be that the kudos earned by the DNCC Mayor may have prompted the DSCC Mayor into going for a similar eviction drive in the Gulistan area. As it existed, there could not be a comparison between the two city areas in terms creating distresses for the citys commuters and pedestrians. While the Kawranbazar-Tejgaon areas were indeed creating nightmarish difficulties for passing through by the citizens and their vehicles, the Gulistan area in comparison posed no such great ordeals. Of course, the footpaths in Gulistan were largely occupied by hawkers, yet the main road there remained reasonably and largely usable for traffic unlike in the previous state of the Kawaranbazar-Tejgaon area. Therefore, clearing of the Kawranbazar-Tejgaon area signalled as a far higher priority and this task was neatly accomplished to the satisfaction of citizens. In contrast, clearing of the footpaths in Gulistan looked like a marginal need but the way the DSCC Mayor is seen as savagely engaging himself to bulldozing and evicting there, will very likely earn for him no admiration for either attending vigorously to a very great need or doing what he is doing with vision or empathy for the dislodged people and their ways of subsistence earnings. Thus, none should be blamed for accusing the DSCC Mayor for aiming more at the camera than applying himself to the truly urgent needs of mitigating the real sufferings of citizens under his jurisdiction. Take for instance, the pot-holed and tattered conditions of roads in many places within the DSCC; specially sections of the roads on two sides of the Mayor Hanif Bridge hardly deserve to be called roads anymoreso badly battered their appearances are today. Many roads in the DSCC were paved only months ago in the early part of the tenure of the present Mayor but have crumbled astonishingly fast suggesting unforgivable corruption in these works in the first place. There are many aspects of poor governance in DSCC not capable of inclusion or mention in the small space provided here. But it should suffice to say that the Mayors stunt mongering can be no substitutes for actual attainments.