Dhaka: Capital of Bangladesh

Dhaka: Capital of Bangladesh

Dhaka formerly spelled as Dacca is the capital city of Bangladesh. Dhaka is situated beside the Buriganga River.  It’s a hub point for trade and culture. Dhaka is one of the most populated cities in the world. In 1983 Dhaka was adapted instead of Dacca.

The name of Dhaka city was Jahangir Nagar in the 17th century. It was the Mughal capital of Bengal for seventy five (75) years; and flourished in the trade and culture as a cosmopolitan commercial capital and the hub point of the worldwide muslin and silk trade.

In 1793, Dhaka ceded to the British East India Company. British Dacca developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with the establishment of Roads, railways, jute trading and various educational and cultural institutions. It was the capital city of British Eastern Bengal and Assam between 1905 and 1912. After the Partition of British India in 1947, Dhaka became the administrative capital of the East Pakistan. Due to major political, economic and cultural frictions between East and West Pakistan, the city was subjected to long periods of martial law and military suppression during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. After independence, Dhaka witnessed rapid urban growth as the centre of political, economic and cultural life in Bangladesh.

Modern Dhaka is the most densely populated country in the world  as well as one of the fastest growing megacities in the world. Bangladesh is now developing country, it face a lot of challenges including traffic congestion, crime, urban pollution and poverty. In Dhaka city you will find Rickshaw in the world you will not find so much, So, Dhaka is called Rickshaw Capital of the World.

Geography of Bangladesh

Dhaka is located in central Bangladesh at 23°42′N 90°22′E, on the eastern banks of the Buriganga River. The city lies on the lower reaches of the Ganges Delta and covers a total area of 300 square kilometres (120 sq mi). It consists of 49 thanas –Lalbagh, Wari,Chowkbazar, Armanitola, Kotwali, Hazaribagh, Sutrapur, Bangsal, Ramna, Shahbag, Gendaria, Motijheel, Mohakhali, Malibagh, Kawran bazar, Paltan, Kalabagan, Dhanmondi, Mohammadpur, Lalmatia, Rajarbagh, Tejgaon, Nakhalpara, Panthapath, Jatrabari, Kadamtali,New Market, Azampur, Khilkhet, Rampura, Hatirpool, Gulshan, Mirpur, Pallabi, Shah Ali, Turaag, Sabujbagh, Baridhara, Dhaka Cantonment, Demra, Shyampur, Badda, Kafrul, Kamrangir char, Khilgaon, Uttara, Uttarkhan, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dakkshinkhan etc. In total the city has 130 wards and 725 mohallas. Dhaka District has an area of 1,463.60 square kilometres (565 sq mi) with a population of 18,305,671 in 2012; and is bounded by the districts of Gazipur, Tangail, Munshiganj, Rajbari, Narayanganj, Manikganj. Tropical vegetation and moist soils characterise the land, which is flat and close to sea level. This leaves Dhaka susceptible to flooding during the monsoon seasons owing to heavy rainfall and cyclones.

Climate of Bangladesh

Dhaka experiences a hot, wet, and humid tropical climate. The city has a distinct monsoonal season, with an annual average temperature of 26 °C (79 °F) and monthly means varying between 19 °C (66 °F) in January and 29 °C (84 °F) in May. Approximately 87% of the annual average rainfall of 2,123 millimetres (83.6 inches) occurs between May and October. Increasing air and water pollution emanating from traffic congestion and industrial waste are serious problems affecting public health and the quality of life in the city.  Water bodies and wetlands around Dhaka are facing destruction as these are being filled up to construct multi-storied buildings and other real estate developments. Coupled with pollution, such erosion of natural habitats threatens to destroy much of the regional biodiversity.

Parks and recreation in Dhaka City

There are many parks within Dhaka city, including Ramna Park, Suhrawardy Udyan, Shishu Park, National Botanical Garden, Baldha Garden, Chandrima Uddan, Gulshan Park and Dhaka Zoo. There are lakes within city, such as Crescent lake, Dhanmondi lake, Baridhara-Gulshan lake, Banani lake, Uttara lake and Hatirjheel-Begunbari lake.

Now Hatirjheel is a new place of recreation for city dwellers. Hatirjheel covering 320 acres (129 ha) is transformed into a place of festivity at night but with serenity settling down. Consultants from Civil Engineering Department of BUET and engineers of SWO of Bangladesh Army, Roads and Highways Department, Local Government Engineering Department and Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha have worked hard to turn this project into reality. However, the parks and the recreation places are often crowded and lacks security and cleanliness aspects, which is yet one of the big issues.

Economy of Bangladesh

Dhaka is one of the twin hubs of the Bangladesh financial industry. The city is the seat the Bangladesh Bank and the Dhaka Stock Exchange. The city’s diverse economy registered a gross municipal product of US$85 billion in 2008. Dhaka is one of the fastest growing startup hubs in the world It has one of the largest concentrations of multinational companies in South Asia. The main commercial areas of the city are Motijheel, Dilkusha, Kawran Bazar, Gulshan, Mohakhali and Banani. The city has a growing middle class, driving the market for modern consumer and luxury goods. Restaurants, shopping malls and hotels continue to serve as vital elements in the city’s economy. Major Bangladeshi companies headquartered in the Dhaka include Beximco, Rahimafrooz,Grameenphone, Banglalink, Biman Bangladesh Airlines, Petrobangla,Akij Group, Bashundhara Group, Transcom Group, Aarong, the PRAN-RFL Group and Square Pharmaceuticals among others. Dhaka is the centre of the Bangladesh textile industry. The technologically advanced Bangladeshi pharmaceutical industry is also concentrated in Dhaka. Private education, healthcare, architecture, engineering and consultancy services are major sectors of the urban economy. Administrative and security services are also concentrated in the city, due to numerous institutions of the Government of Bangladesh. The Greater Dhaka industrial area is a major manufacturing hub, bounded by the Buriganga, Meghna, Dhaleshwari and Turag Rivers. It includes Narayanganj city, the Dhaka Export Processing Zone,Tongi, Savar, Keraniganj and Gazipur city. Exports from the garments sector in Dhaka amounted to over 19 billion US dollars in 2013. The city has historically attracted numerous migrant workers.  Hawkers, peddlers, small shops, rickshaw transport, roadside vendors and stalls employ a large segment of the population — rickshaw-drivers alone number as many as 400,000. Half the workforce is employed in household and unorganised labour, while about 800,000 work in the textile industry. The unemployment rate in Dhaka was 23% in 2013. The city has a per-capita income of US$3,100 (the lowest among the world’s megacities); and an estimated 34% of households live below the poverty line. Dhaka faces tremendous challenges of congestion and inadequate infrastructure.

Education in Bangladesh

Dhaka has the largest number of schools, colleges and universities of any Bangladeshi city. The education system is divided into 5 levels: Primary (from grades 1 to 5), Junior (from grades 6 to 8), Secondary (from grades 9 to 10), Higher Secondary (from grades 11 to 12) and tertiary. The five years of Primary education concludes with a Primary Education Completion (PEC) Examination, the three years of Junior education concludes with Junior School Certificate (JSC) Examination, and next two years of Secondary education concludes with a Secondary School Certificate (SSC) Examination. Students who pass this examination proceed to two years of Higher Secondary or intermediate training, which culminate in a Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSC) Examination. Education is mainly offered in Bengali, but English is also widely taught and used. Many Muslim families send their children to attend part-time courses or even to pursue full-time religious education alongside other subjects, which is imparted in Bengali and Arabic in schools, colleges and madrasas.

There are 52 universities in Dhaka. The Dhaka College is the oldest institution of higher education in the city and amongst the earliest established in British India, founded in 1841. Since independence, Dhaka has seen the establishment of numerous public and private colleges and universities that offer undergraduate and graduate degrees as well as a variety of doctoral programmes. The University of Dhaka is one of the largest public university in the nation with more than 30,000 students and 1,800 faculty staff. It was established in 1921 being the first university in the region. The university has 23 research centres and 70 departments, faculties and institutes. Eminent seats of higher education include Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET),Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Jagannath University and Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University. Dhaka Medical College and Sir Salimullah Medical College are two famous medical colleges in the nation. There are two other renowned government medical colleges; one is Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and another is Armed Forces Medical College, Dhaka. Protests and strikes, and violence amongst police, students and political groups frequently disrupt public university campuses.

Alongside public institutes of higher education there are some forty-five private universities in Dhaka. Notable private universities are

North South University, East West University, University of Asia Pacific, American International University – Bangladesh, BRAC University, Primeasia University, United International University and Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology (see:List of universities in Bangladesh), most of which are located in Mohakhali, Gulshan, Banani, Baridhara, Bashundhara, Uttara and Dhanmondi areas of the city.

The British Council plays an important role helping students to achieve GCSE and A Level qualifications from examination boards in the United Kingdom. This is in addition to holding several examinations for professional bodies in the United Kingdom, including the UK medical Royal Colleges and Accountancy.

Transport in Bangladesh

Dhaka is known as the rickshaw capital of the world. Approximately 400,000 rickshaws run each day. Cycle rickshaws and auto rickshaws are the main mode of transport, with close to 400,000 rickshaws running each day – the largest number for any city in the world. However, only about 85,000 rickshaws are licensed by the city government. Relatively low-cost and non-polluting cycle rickshaws, nevertheless, cause traffic congestion and have been banned from many parts of the city. Public buses are operated by the state-run Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) and by private companies and operators.

Scooters, taxis and privately owned cars are rapidly becoming popular with the city’s growing middle class. The government has overseen the replacement of two-stroke engine auto rickshaws with “Green auto-rickshaws” locally called CNG auto-rickshaw or Baby-taxi, which run on compressed natural gas. Taxis plying in the Dhaka roads are Yellow. They have higher standards in terms of comfort but are more expensive. They are required to have air conditioning; the fleet consists mostly of Toyota Allions, Toyota Corolla and Toyota Premio. As of April 2013, some 2,000-2,500 taxis were operating in the capital. The Government decided to import 5,000 new taxis with the engine capacity of 1,500cc. The government also plans to raise the total number of taxis to 18,000 gradually.

Dhaka is connected to the other parts of the country through highway and railway links. Highway links to the Indian cities of Kolkata and Agartala have been established by the BRTC which also runs regular bus services to those cities from Dhaka.

Kamalapur railway station, Airport railway station, Banani railway station, Tejgaon railway station, Cantonment railway station and Gendaria railway station are railway stations providing trains on suburban and national routes operated by the state-run Bangladesh Railway. Bangladesh Railway also runs a regular international train service between Dhaka and Kolkata. Bangladesh Railway has been operating commuter rail services in suburban areas as well as to neighbouring Narayanganj and Gazipur cities using DEMU trains.

The Sadarghat River Port on the banks of the Buriganga River serves for the transport of goods and passengers upriver and to other ports in Bangladesh.

The Shahjalal International Airport, located 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) north of Dhaka city centre, is the largest and busiest airport in the nation.

Domestic service flies to Chittagong, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Cox’s Bazar, Jessore, Barisal, Saidpur and international services fly to major cities in Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and Western Europe.

An elevated expressway system is under construction. The Dhaka Elevated Expressway would run from Shahjalal International Airport-Kuril-Banani-Mohakhali-Tejgaon-Saatrasta-Moghbazar Rail Crossing-Khilgaon-Kamalapur-Golapbagh to Dhaka-Chittagong Highway at Kutubkhali Point. A longer second elevated expressway from Airport-Ashulia is currently undergoing feasibility study.

The Dhaka Metro feasibility study has been completed. A 21.5 kilometres (13.4 mi), $1.7 Billion Phase 1, metro route is being negotiated by the Government with Japan International Cooperation Agency. The first route will start from Pallabi, northern suburb of Dhaka to Sayedabad, southern section of Dhaka.

Collected: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhaka

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