Although five years have passed, tens of thousands of residents of 18 wards that were incorporated under the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) cannot yet avail the civic services they are entitled to. This is despite paying holding tax since 2016, leading to disappointment among them. Residents alleged they have been asked to keep paying holding tax through letters despite not getting civic services from the city corporation.  Read: DNCC holds street march to aware people against mosquitoes Many dwellers said they have been included in the city corporation only in name. They did not get a single service in the last five years.  In a recent visit to some wards under DNCC, the UNB correspondent found that most of the roads in the new wards remain made of earth. There are no streetlights. Footpaths have been turned into dustbins and many illegal establishments have been constructed on both sides of the road. Waterlogging is a common scenario in these wards during rainfall. Local dwellers have been suffering a lot due to a lack of development work. Md Wahid, an ex-UP member of No.40 ward, said, “We were included in the city corporation five years ago. But the city corporation didn’t do any development work in our ward. Now DNCC has sent letters to the dwellers to pay holding tax which created discontent among the locals. Why will we keep paying holding tax when we did not get civic services from the city corporation? We have been paying it in 2016. This is unfair.”  Another resident of No. 42 ward Mohammad Kiron said, “All roads in our ward get inundated by the rainwater. Our roads need to be repaired to reduce the suffering of the people." He also protested the holding tax demanded by the DNCC.    On June 28, 2016, Dhaka North City Corporation had included 18 wards by dissolving 114 square kilometres of Harirampur, Uttar Khan, Dakshin Khan, Badda, Satarkul, and Vatara union parishads adjoining the capital. Five regions were carved out of these wards.     According to DNCC, in July 2020, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved Tk 4,025 crore for the first phase of development works in the new 18 wards. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the development works project in March this year. However, Dhaka North City Corporation didn’t start the development works due to a lack of funds. The government has a plan to run development works in these new wards worth Tk 22,000 crore in the second phase.         Contacted, Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Mayor Atiqul Islam told UNB that Bangladesh Army has been given the contract for the development works in the 18 new wards under the city corporation. “We have received some amount of allocated money from the state exchequer out of a total of Tk 4,025 crore. The army has already started development works in these areas with this little amount of money,” he added.    Read: Remove haphazard overhead cables by June 30: DNCC mayor Urban expert and Bangladesh Institute of Planners (BIP) general secretary Dr Adil Mohammed said, “An ideal city corporation ward will have widened roads, drainage system, sewerage system, waste management system, health centres, library, community centre, educational institution, museum, theatre, playground, park, slaughterhouse, public toilet, and bus terminal to ensure service to the dwellers. Such facilities are not available in these new wards.”        He said a maximum part of the government lands in these new wards is occupied by the local musclemen. Occupiers have constructed high-rise buildings at various places and recorded land ownership in the name of persons and organisations. The authorities concerned should conduct development works in the wards after freeing the occupied lands, and it needs to deal with the matter with an iron hand, added Adil Mohammed. Selim Reza, additional secretary and DNCC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) told UNB that in accordance with the master plan,  Bangladesh Army has started development works at No. 44 and 46 wards with a fund of Tk 300 crore, that is part of the Tk 4,025 crore approved by the government for the first phase of development work. Work in the rest of the wards will start very soon after getting money from the government.   About paying holding tax to the city corporation from 2016, Selim Reza said according to the city corporation law, residents must pay holding tax after the publication of the gazette notification.

The Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) on Thursday kick-started a six-day special drive against dengue and other vector-borne diseases. The drive will be carried out twice a day till March 16, officials said. Read: Vaccine certificate must for getting DNCC services: Atiq Since morning, nearly 900 workers have been carrying out fogging drives across DNCC wards and checking for any possible sources of stagnant water that can lead to the breeding of Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes, officials said. DNCC chief health officer Brigadier General Jobaidur Rahman personally inspected the drive in the Ibrahimpur canal area under Mirpur-4 region in the morning. The DNCC took the initiative as per the directives of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, officials said. Every year, residents of Dhaka complain of mosquito bites and cases of dengue and malaria. According to a report of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), so far this year, some 151 people have been admitted to different hospitals in Dhaka and 148 were discharged post-recovery. Read:DNCC to recover illegally occupied roads Fortunately, no dengue deaths have been reported this year. A total of 105 dengue patients -- 95 in Dhaka division alone, four in Mymensingh, two each in Chattogram and Khulna, and one each in Rajshahi and Barishal divisions -- died in 2021.

All illegal establishments will be evicted from the canals in the city following the demarcation of the waterbodies, said LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Md Tazul Islam on Wednesday. He said this while addressing the inauguration function of the demarcation process of 29 canals and one regulatory pond under Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC).  The event was arranged in the city’s Kalyanpur Regulatory Pond area.   Read: How the life was sucked out of the Suvadda Canal The Minister praised Dhaka's two city corporations for starting the process to free canals from illegal occupants and  evict illegal structures from the water channels after the Dhaka WASA handed over the responsibility of the canals to them. He said the government acquired 173 acres of land in Kalyanpur to construct a water regulatory pond in a bid to ease the Dhaka city’s waterlogging.  But the entire land except three acres went under the illegal land grabbers and different structures were constructed on the acquired land, he said. “The normal water flow will be ensured by removing all establishments inside the land after the demarcation,” said the Minister. He said many canals including Ramchandrapur have already been freed from the illegal occupations.  In collaboration with the administration, the public representatives have evicted various illegal establishments by engaging common people in it, he said. Read: Atiqul renews his vow: All canals under DNCC to be recovered Tazul said the public support is required to bring back the heritage of Dhaka by reviving the old canals.  He sought the cooperation from media in garnering public support, said a PID handout. DNCC Mayor Md Atiqul Islam also spoke on the occasion, while DNCC ward councilors and senior officials were present.

Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Mayor Atiqul Islam on Sunday said strict action will be taken against those who will violate traffic rules. “Vehicles should move on the streets following rules. Or else, stern action will be taken against those offenders,” he said while speaking at the inauguration programme of ‘Dhaka Nagar Paribahan’ at Mohammadpur bus depot. The government has fixed the bus fare at Tk 2.15 per kilometer for Dhaka Nagar Paribahan bus service on the 28-km Ghatarchar-Mohammadpur-Gulistan-Motijheel-Sighboard-Kanchpur bridge route, he said. Read: Much-hyped ‘Dhaka Nagar Paribahan’ rolled out With the increase in population, the number of buses and minibuses has increased in the city and over 9,000 buses and minibuses are moving on 291 routes of Dhaka city, Atiq said. “An unhealthy competition is seen among the buses of different companies due to lack of a well-planned transport system which causes both small and major accidents. So, we’ve to restore discipline in the whole transport system,” he added.

An agreement was signed on Wednesday between the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Chinese firm China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) to develop the country’s first ever waste-based power plant in Dhaka.   The power plant will generate 42.5 MW of electricity from the garbage in the capital city. Welcoming the deal, LGRD and Cooperatives Minister M Tajul Islam has said a new era will begin in Dhaka city’s garbage management with the implementation of the project. Read: Ministry to offer financial support to promote research in energy, power sector: Nasrul Under the agreement, Dhaka city will supply 3,000 mts of solid waste to the project daily while CMEC will set up an incineration plant to generate 42.5 MW power and BPDB will purchase the electricity from the plant at US21.78 Cents, equivalent to Tk 18.295, per kilowatt hour (each unit) over the period of 25 year. A number of associated agreements were signed between the parties to implement the projects under which the DNCC will also provide 30 acres of land to set up the incineration and power plant at Aminbazar in the city while the CMEC will complete the construction of the project and start commercial operation within 24 months from the financial closing. The Chinese firm will complete the financial closing of the project within nine months of the contract’s effective date. Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) will build required power transmission lines to evacuate electricity from the project. The agreement was signed at a function at Sonargaon Hotel in the city while State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid, DNCC Mayor Atiqul Islam, and Chinese Ambassador in Bangladesh Li Jiming also spoke. Read: Bangladesh’s future focus may be on nuclear energy use: Dr Tawfiq Tajul Islam said the project was undertaken in line with Bangladesh’s commitment to the COP26 conference to reduce the carbon emission. Nasrul Hamid said similar projects will also be taken in all other City Corporation areas across the country. Mayor Atiqul Islam said the DNCC and the DSCC have been working together to introduce electric vehicles in the city as part of the government’s commitment to green energy. “No fuel-fired vehicles will be allowed in Dhaka city to run in near future,”he added.

Bangladesh launched yet another nationwide mass vaccination drive on Tuesday, aiming to inoculate 75 lakh people in a day to mark Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's birthday. "In the first two hours, women above 50 years and disabled people will get the jabs on priority basis," Health Minister Zahid Maleque told reporters on Sunday. The Covid jabs will be administered from 9am at 6,000 vaccine centres across the country, he said in the morning. Those who had earlier registered for getting the vaccine but did not get it timely will also be given priority during this campaign, the minister said. In Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) area, the special vaccination drive began around 2.30 pm, said Mohamamd Azam, Chief Executive Officer of Zone-2. "But the regular process to administer the jabs has been underway since morning." Read: PM Hasina’s 75th birthday to be celebrated Tuesday

Some areas of the two city corporations in Dhaka, Chattogram, Narayanganj, Narshingdi and Gazipur district have been marked as ‘Red zones’ to contain the spread of coronavirus.

The Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) on Friday found Aedes mosquito larvae in 147 houses and establishments on the seventh day of its combing operation launched to protect the city dwellers from dengue.

The Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) authority on Tuesday found Aedes mosquito larvae in 162 houses and establishments on the fourth day of its combing operation launched to protect the city dwellers from dengue that started in all 54 wards of DNCC on Saturday.

The Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) on Monday found Aedes mosquito larvae in 175 houses and establishments on the third day of its combing operation launched to protect the city dwellers from dengue that started in all 54 wards of DNCC on Saturday.