Ershad Nagar is one of the three resettlement camps constructed by the former prime minister Sheik Mujibur Rahman in Dhaka in 1975 (see Figure 4.1). The previous name of this settlement was ‘Dattapara Rehabilitation Centre’. The camp was first established on an agricultural land of 101 acre (40.40 hectre).The purpose of the project was to evacute people from unauthorized occupation of valuable public land in the city center.
To explain the government attitude, Choguill pointed out that
“Government policies toward squatters and squatter resettlement generally reflected the political attitudes of the government and the decision-makers which comprise it. Certainly this was the case in Bangladesh. By the summer of 1974, the various political forces, which were to influence squatter resettlement policy in Bangladesh, were plainly apparent. On the one hand among certain intellectuals who were in a position of political power at the time, an idealistic approach was proposed in the search for some kind of a solution to the immediate problems faced by the growing number of urban squatters” (1987: 72).
In 1975, the operation of demolishing 173,000 busteebashees (bustee households) was first implemented and these destitute people were carried to three resettlement camps,
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which are located in three different directions in the city map (Rahman, M. 1999). In the initial stage there was neither construction nor a plan. People constructed their own temporary tents by themselves as the policy was assisted self-help housing, and also government was unable to provide any houses other than providing land (see Figure 4.1).
In a later stage, all housing materials at the site were a gift from various NGOs. Hommes-des-Terres (TDS) and the Salvation Army house-building programs provided materials of 9 foot by 18-foot bamboo frame and matting huts, which accommodated up to ten people each. In 1979, a storm destroyed about 100 houses but these had to be reconstructed by the agencies. Daily maintenance of the houses was strictly the responsibility of the householders.
The policy of these NGOs was to provide only construction materials, however each family had to show effort to construct their own dwellings. In the meantime, some illegal families also tried to occupy some plots. Therefore, an aluminium plate has been
provided by TDS to control and to identify the families. The total number allocated for housing were 3444 families and a plan was ultimately prepared by the Housing
Development Authority (Griha Nirman Shanta) to provide basic services such as water and sanitation (see Figure 4.4). For example one tube well was provided for every eight families (this information has been obtained from one of the officials working in TDS, 23rd June, 2000).
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Figure 4.4. The Map of Ershad Nagar (Source: Griha Nirman Shanta, Dhaka, 2000).
As time passed, conditions at two of the three camps, Dattapara (previous name of Ershad Nagar), and Demra, improved significantly (see Figure 3.7). The situation at Dattapara
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provides a relatively good basis for comparison with the situation in earlier years. Six years after the camp was established, the Dattapara site began to look like a very large Bangladesh village. The residents and the government had reached a sort of agreement on leaseholds for the land on which the houses were situated. An annual rent of Tk.1 (at a time when US $ 1= Tk. 15) was charged for each plot.
The employment situation was still considered to be a major problem. Very few of the former squatters were qualified to work at the local industrial estate. Most men in the camp traveled to Dhaka for two-month stretches and then returned to Dattapara to visit their families for a short holiday. At that time virtually, none of the residents felt they could commute to Dhaka on a daily basis.
In 1984, when the country was under Military regime, President General Ershad first proposed for the semi pucca (semi permanent) houses and roads and changed the name Datta para to Ershad Nagar, which means the City of Ershad. Although his intension was to provide housing for all 3444 families, only 1116 houses were constructed during his ruling time. Each house was constructed for two individual families and each family had two rooms with a kitchen, pit latrine, tube well and an open veranda. The plot for each family was 8m X 8m approximately (see Figure 4.5).
The other houses in the camp are much smaller in size with bamboo mat and tin at the roof. The main road of this settlement is 20 feet wide and the sub roads are 10 feet. For planning purposes the whole area has been divided into 8 different sectors (see Figure
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4.4.). Each house has its own registration number given by the housing authorities. The government established two primary schools (see Appendix P: Figure 39), one Madrasa (religious school) and an orphanage. Beside all these institution, TDS has its own
vocational school for young boys and women training programs (see Appendix P: Figure 30 and Figure 32). Besides the school and training programs, it has a resettlement
upgrading program which emphasizes the socio-economic backgrounds of the dwellers (see Appendix O). There are other NGO offices with their micro credit projects for women (see Appendix P: Figure 31). One interesting feature of this settlement is that almost every house by the main road has been extended for making types of different shops, workshops and restaurants gradually (See Appendix P: Figure 27 and Figure 28).
Figure 4.5. The Layout of Government Assisted Dwellings (Source: author’s documentation, July 2000).
Communication was a problem for commuters who used to work in the city center in the early stages however, the frequent bus and minibuses have ultimately solved the
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transportation problem. Today, a number of households opened commercial enterprises that created some jobs both for them and for other in the settlement within near
proximity.
4.4. A Comparison of the households in terms of Social Structure in the three