DHAKA: Imagine a street, wrapped in the shadows of trees, with rays of sunshine escaping and hitting the ground surface from the gaps among the leaves and the branches; the trees from both sides of the street are bent towards each other, as though they are attracted to one another, creating an arch over the street.
Imagine driving on a street like this, being completely drawn into a green tunnel, with Radhachura and Krishnachura trees planted by the sides of the street - it would seem as though the street is speaking on behalf of nature, symbolizing the love affair of Radha and Krishna.
And now, imagine this beautiful street to be a part of Dhaka - would it seem probable for such a street to exist in Dhaka or would it be too far-fetched?
Mrs. Nasim Anwar Hossain, 67, has been living in Dhaka since 1966.Mrs. Hossain states that Dhaka wasn't a big city, but it was a beautiful town; in particular, she remembers the natural beauty of the roads around Eskaton, reflecting back to simpler times when more of Dhaka belonged to nature. However, in the 1980s, Bailey Road became a social hub for the citizens of Dhaka and slowly, due to increasing urbanization and population, traffic congestion kept getting more and more severe in those parts.
And now, as we are all aware, recognizable areas of Dhaka such as Banani and Dhanmondi are buzzing with people, be it for dining, shopping or other recreational activities, further leading to a massive cocktail of chaos and confusion on the streets.
Mrs. Hossain herself has lived in Banani for several years and she feels the same way about Banani as she used to feel about Eskaton. According to her, Banani was a beautiful residential area, filled with greenery - the only two recognizable food joints/restaurants in that area back in 2002 were American Burger and Sajna Restaurant.
And now, about a decade and a half later, the situation is a lot worse and does not seem to get any better anytime soon, with regards to traffic congestion and noise pollution. Prior to that, something similar happened in Dhanmondi - a beautiful residential area free of traffic congestion and noise has now become a concrete jungle with the formation of schools and shopping complexes.
According to Mrs. Hossain, we are now as distant from nature as humanly possible in Dhaka and we have almost forgotten how to appreciate natural beauty.
When Mrs. Hossain went to Singapore in 1974, she stated that Dhaka was in no way any inferior to Singapore; regardless of certain privileges offered in Singapore, she was hopeful that Dhaka is extremely comparable to that country and is a beautiful, green town on the verge of flourishing.
She was optimistic about Dhaka growing and developing appropriately in an orderly manner, but now when she thinks about Dhaka, all she ends up asking herself is, "What have we done to our city..."
There was no planning and organization towards the development of Dhaka and as it turns out, even the carrying capacity of the roads of Dhaka is declining alarmingly.
This brings us to the 300 Feet Road situated adjacent to the Bashundhara Residential Area, which has a great opportunity to stand out and not repeat the same mistakes that have been made in the past with the areas such as Bailey Road, Dhanmondi and Banani.
Along the 300 Feet Road, there is a beautiful nursery owned by a man named Kamal. According to Kamal, and also as it is seen in the nursery, there are beautiful Roses, Lilies and Bougainvillea, available in white, purple and pink colors.
Kamal has been passionately preserving a small piece of nature, and along with the help of four other gardeners, he has been able to maintain the beauty of the nursery.
However, Kamal fears that this beauty might get lost at any moment's notice as the land he has established his nursery on belongs to the government. Thus, if the government tells him to pack it all up and move elsewhere, he will have to oblige. On the other hand, there are already three to four food joints right off the 300 Feet Road where university students go for dining and socializing.
Kamal also fears that someday, a restaurant will develop on the place his nursery is situated on now.
Can we not dedicate this one road to nature completely? Can we not turn this road into another Banani Road-11 or Dhanmondi Road-27? Can we really afford to see double parking occurring on this road, like the rest of the city? Maybe, the present state of mind for some people is that if the 300 Feet Road becomes the next social hub, the pressure from other places/social hubs may reduce, but that's not a good analogy as the overall population is not decreasing in any way and surprisingly, many even used to think the same way about Bailey Road, Dhanmondi Road-27 and Banani Road-11.
The 300 Feet Road is probably the only road at such an important junction of the city where the traffic is not heavy and has not been affected by poor urbanization. Let the nursery stay and, in fact, develop into a much bigger piece of nature by plantation of trees on both sides of the road.
We can easily take the initiative to preserve this area and also propose the development of similar small nurseries after regular intervals at every possible point of the city. Not only will it look beautiful, it will speak proudly on behalf of our mother nature.
Unfortunately, this step has not been taken in the history of the development of Dhaka, so now, let's take this initiative and make sure that the 300 Feet Road remains unharmed by unplanned and unnecessary urbanization. Let's make the imagination of a 'green tunnel' a reality.
BDST: 1710 HRS, MAR 13, 2016
RR/SMS
