Dhaka, April 19 -- Decentralisation is key to making Dhaka a livable city. For quite a long time - several decades - the necessity of Dhaka's centralisation has been in the discussion in this world's most densely populated country. But up until now it has remained only in discussion; no visible efforts have been made in that direction. As a result, Dhaka's population has been rising phenomenally with the concomitant problems like traffic congestion and pollution of all kinds as the most common byproducts of ongoing development activities in Dhaka. The city is ever growing as an unhealthy place.

No system can function effectively if a city like Dhaka contains more than two crore people with its limited resources. People from various parts...