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Mayors and ward councillors of Dhaka South City Corporation and Dhaka North City Corporation have mostly been absent from work since the ouster of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina on August 5, causing disruptions in essential services, including issuing birth and death certificates, and other financial and administrative activities.

Most of the 172 councillors of the two city corporations are from the Awami League, and they have mostly remained absent from their office after many of their offices and homes faced vandalism and arson attacks following Hasina’s departure from the country.

The both city corporations said that they did not know how many offices were non-functional and when the services might resume. 

Dhaka north city mayor Md Atiqul Islam has not been in the office since Hasina’s fall, while Dhaka south city mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, a nephew of Hasina, reportedly left the country before August 5.   

The situation disrupted many essential services provided by the ward councillors to the city residents, including issuing inheritance certificates, birth certificates, death certificates, character certificates and citizenship certificates, required for various objectives, getting national identity cards and passports, among them. 

The Dhaka north city corporation said that it was awaiting government guidelines to resume services, while the Dhaka south city corporation instructed its officials to seek alternatives.

Financial and administrative activities, including tender invitation, approval of bills and purchase, requiring mayoral approval were halted as of Wednesday, while mosquito control operations were also hampered in several areas as the machines and stock of pesticides kept in the councillors’ offices were damaged in attacks.   

To continue the citizen services and administrative activities, the Local Government Division in a notice, signed by its secretary Abu Hena Morshed Zaman on Wednesday, asked the chief executive officers of the city corporations across the country to perform the mayoral responsibilities until further notice. 

The notice said that the chief executives were given full financial and administrative authority as the absence of mayors and panel mayors disrupted operations and services of the city corporations.   

Dhaka north city corporation chief executive officer Mir Khairul Alam said that 30 per cent out of 54 general ward councillor offices were vandalised, looted or set on fire. 

‘Services, particularly issuance of birth and death certificates, assigned to councillors, have been hampered as some of them are not attending offices, primarily due to security concerns and damages of office and properties. We have already informed the government about the issue and hope to receive a decision soon,’ Khairul Alam said on Thursday.   

He said that some mosquito control machines stored in the councilors’ offices were damaged and now they were utilising their backup stocks.

Dhaka south city corporation chief executive officer Md Mizanur Rahman could not be reached for comments over phone.

Md Abu Naser, spokesperson for the Dhaka south city authority, admitted that services were disrupted due to the damage done to the councillors’ offices in many areas.

He said that at a meeting held with all its officials on Thursday afternoon, the Dhaka south city corporation chief executive officer instructed them to find alternative ways to manage the work of councillors. 

During visits on Wednesday to councilor offices in wards 11, 27 and 28 under Dhaka north city, and ward 16 under Dhaka south city, all were found vandalised and inactive.  

Employees of wards 11 and 28 were found cleaning the offices on Wednesday.

Jakir Hossain, secretary of ward 28 in Agargaon, said that four computers and 10 fans, among others, were looted, and other properties were also damaged, while councillor Md Forkan Hossain took shelter in a safe place.  

Ward 11 councillor Dewan Abdul Mannan said that services stopped due to vandalism. 

A shop worker named Mamun at Mahbub Plaza in Indira Road area, where the office of the ward 27 councillor is located, said that the office had been closed since August 5. More than 10 people who came there inquired him about when the services might resume, he added.

A longstanding row between the Dhaka south city authority and the Office of the Registrar General, Birth and Death Registration under the Local Government Division, however, seems to be solved through an instruction sent from the registrar general’s office over the issuing of birth and death certificates.

The dispute began when on October 4, 2023 the south city authority started issuing these certificates via its own server, resulting in them not being recorded centrally causing sufferings to south city residents.      

Registrar general Md Zahid Hossain on Wednesday told ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· that the government instructed the south city authority to use the central server for birth and death registration.