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KAMRUL ISLAM RATAN
The South Plaza of the National Parliament Complex, facing Manik Mia Avenue, a typically secure and architecturally significant area, has been turned into a makeshift market by illegal vendors.
Some visitors from home and abroad have alleged that the area, particularly the footpath from Khamarbari to the Aarong intersection along the South Plaza, has become a popular spot for food vendors and street vendors selling stationery items.
The South Plaza is the main entrance used by members of parliament during parliamentary sessions. People visit the area to take a glance at one of the marvels of modern architecture. Even many Bangladeshi expatriates visit the area with family members to show their children one of the country’s most important and iconic architectural landmarks, but the tide has ebbed due to the excessive presence of food vendors and stationery shopkeepers.
Some are selling burgers, while others are preparing pizza, grilled chicken, porota and omelettes in ovens fuelled by firewood and charcoal under the open sky, emitting smoke that significantly contributes to environmental pollution in and around the area.
Kitchen items and seasonal fruits like jackfruit, mango, and coconut, and clothes like T-shirts, shirts, and trousers, are also available in the makeshift market, while the dominance of ice cream vendors is needless to say.
The South Plaza has already been turned into a popular spot for street food and crowds tend to swell here, particularly in the late afternoon and evening every day, boosting informal economic activities in the area, they said.
The national parliament and its adjoining areas are highly sensitive from a security standpoint and the informal market can pose a threat to overall discipline, security, and the smooth movement of pedestrians as well as local and foreign visitors, they added.
The increased number of hawkers and their illegal businesses at the South Plaza pavement has created a complex situation for Dhaka’s urban management, and the authorities concerned must address the issue for the sake of law and order, public convenience, and the informal economy of the low-income group, a group of visitors told the Daily Sun while visiting the area recently.
Mohammad Monirul Islam, officer-in-charge of Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station, said they frequently evict illegal shops from the area but have failed to permanently prohibit them on humanitarian grounds.
Golam Sorwar Bhuiyan, secretary of the Parliament Secretariat, told the Daily Sun that the South Plaza, facing Manik Mia Avenue, lies outside the boundaries of the parliament premises, and the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) is the authority responsible for evicting the makeshift market from the area.
However, Parliament’s website clearly shows that the Parliament Complex is strategically located in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, bounded by Rokeya Sarani to the west, Manik Mia Avenue to the south, Lake Road to the north, and Mirpur Road to the east.
Besides, Muhammad Asaduzzaman, chief executive officer of the DNCC, told the Daily Sun that the specified area lies within the boundaries of the Parliament Complex and the Parliament Secretariat is the sole authority responsible for enforcing any orders there.