Quality services elude Pabna municipality residents

Pabna municipality, which was established in 1867 and attainted the first-class category in 1989, cannot provide quality services to the townspeople.

Clean and wide roads, advanced drainage system for sewage and adequate waste management - none of these are available in this century-old municipality.

Even at night, most of the roads immerse in darkness and during the day, public life is hampered by traffic jams.

People concerned about the town say that despite being a first-class municipality, it has no master plan for the development.

About 0.4 million people live in this small municipal area extending up to 27.20 kilometres.

In such a densely populated town, high-rise buildings are being built here and there in unplanned way. Residential buildings and shopping malls are being built at the ends of narrow streets or at the intersections of the neighborhoods.

In the event of a fire or any accident, there is not enough space for the fire service or the relevant rescue team to enter the places of occurrence. Every road in the town is so narrow that even an ambulance cannot enter many of them.

Condition of the main roads is also poor, with the indiscriminate approval and free movement of autorickshaws causing traffic congestion.

There is no proper drainage and waste management system.

Waste is dumped indiscriminately on the main roads and in the centers of Gachpara, Nurpur and the central bus terminal.

Most of the roads in the town's neighborhoods are submerged with a little rain. Heavy rains also bring water to the main roads. As a result, residents of the town fall into extreme misery.

News reports covering such precarious conditions of the municipality were earlier published in The Financial Express several times.

Iqbal Hossain, a resident of Shalgaria area, told the FE, "Such is the condition of a century-old municipality. What service is it providing us? Water accumulates on the road from the town to Ataikula as soon as a drop of rain falls. And when it rains so much, the water accumulates up to the waist.Water also rises in houses. This problem has been there since the beginning, but I have not seen a solution to it so far."

Rickshaw puller Ripon said, "I have left out the alleys. The town's main street Abdul Hamid Road is not wide enough; so we have to get stuck in traffic jams with our rickshaws. It is risky to drive rickshaws at night except on the main road. There are no lights on other roads. Even if there are, they do not light up. No one even sees them."

Former president of Pabna Press Club ABM Fazlur Rahman said, "People's representatives have come and gone. But the fate of the residents has not changed. Compared to Pabna, quality of services of other municipalities is much better. However, Pabna is in the same situation as the old days. However, a change is needed this time. Markets, residential buildings, terminals - all of these should be brought into a system."

Stating that it is not possible to build a modern, clean and orderly town without a master plan, Dr. Md. Ashrafuzzaman Pramanik, chairman of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning of Pabna University of Science and Technology (PUST), told The Financial Express, "Under this plan, proper use of land must be ensured. Establishments must be built in accordance with the building code."

He said, a large allocation of money is required to implement the long-term master plan. The quarters concerned of the government should pay attention to that. In addition, the municipality officials should be more responsible. Apart from the government allocation, the cooperation of various donor organisations and consulting teams including international ones can be taken.

Pabna Municipality Executive Officer Md. Dulal Hossain said, "Planning is a difficult matter if there is no money in pocket. Even though it is an old municipality, no public representative or anyone like that has paid much attention to its development. Adequate budget allocation is needed to get out of this shabby state."

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