The different utility service providers in the capital must work for raising their standard of services for the benefits of the inhabitants of the city. And the way they round the year make their loud presence in the different areas of the capital, everyone should be convinced that these service providers are really sincere in their job. But the ground reality is quite different. On the one hand, the city dwellers do not get, often the minimum of services they deserve as tax payers, by their work; their unplanned presence on the road becomes constant nuisance for the relevant city dwellers on the other hand.

One can find an example of this substandard work at Shahjahanpur in the capital now. The people of the area do not know when they will be relieved from work on the road at the place. According a report of this newspaper yesterday, if an agency completes construction or repair of a road, then another agency starts digging of the same road, leaving it in a shabby and unusable condition. And the cycle of this goes on.  This picture of endless digging is not limited to the city’s Shahjahanpur alone: those who have lived in a place in the capital for a longer period of time, all have the same kind of experience, more or less. Such has become the reward of living in the city where population is greatly increasing every year, but its standard as a city is not. Even a couple of months ago we had a list of cities of the world that put Dhaka as the worst livable city.

Dust and dirt are a constant problem of Dhaka and the unplanned and uncoordinated work of different service providers is the major source of city’s air pollution. Apart from the monsoon, Dhaka’s air remains hazy all the time creating health danger for all those who are exposed to it.

To lift the overall standard of Dhaka as city, its service providers including two city corporations, DESA, WASA and others must work in coordination following the necessary timeframe so that during the monsoon people do not have to suffer unnecessarily. For a long time the demand for coordinated work by the service providers are being suggested from different corners, but strangely this simple objective is not achieved here for Dhaka.