The changing city as it grows 'Under the sun and rain'

Watch the city grow taller.....

The landscape changes.....

As the cityscape becomes beautiful, preserving the green and maintaining organized growth becomes the key factor. Also, shown are sleek, previews of modern high rise offices.

The wonderful big tree summer blossoms within the green

As beauty and planned taller architecture go in side by side

Do we really want to sacrifice this lush green or sometimes is there a choice? Then comes the advent of roof-top gardens seen below.

Now, this is the biggest challenge of our favourite capital city, "its growth' against saving its beauty and providing true space as the city turns into a mega-city in course of the next few years reaching 2020 with high influx of people into the city. As the load of the country moves into the capital more and more now, then ever before and for quick growth to happen, it grows rapildly, moving from a controlled to an uncontrolled quick pace, and in the course loosing its green, and the regular, natural orchards and groves. The common being, the mangoe, coconut and jackfruit trees seen around providing shades and food for the birds along with so many varieties of the small to big, blossoming, spring and summer trees. Many a avenues and neighborhoods were shaded by them as sheets of green and vivid colours of their blossoms. Now, many have been chopped down to make space for concrete conglomerates or 'high rise' which are growing at a rapid pace to accomodat ethe city gowing population, some organized, others having no time for organization to meet the challenges of the city's growth. Besides some of their faulty development being a major factor for human disaster as experienced by Dhaka's largest building collapse of the Garments factory at Savar which met with the tragic deaths of more than a thousand. Of those more than two thousand were recovered with care and dedication, many of them yet, would require continuous rehabilitation, as they cannot go back to work with the type of injury they had been so tragically met with. So unorganized growth not only has displaced beautiful Dhaka's ecosytem and made it into a city loosing its breathing spaces, some have tore down families displacing their economic growth and potentials in such manmade disasters of fast track city growth. Thanks to people's voluntary efforts rushing into the recovery along with the hard work of army, fire-fighters and other local regulatory authorities of the govt., and the valiant local people that unified into the unforgettable recovery efforts made to remember for a very long time.  So, now alteast after this major shake up, and with time our realizations have started to function with utmost caution and along with the town

planners of private and gov't institutions, awareness of citizens and activists to do the needful, to shape the city into a moderately organized one to cope with the pressure.  Activists had for some time been talking about going back to 'saving green' and normal citizens simply made efforts to have roof top gardens or parks re-shaped to breathe some fresh air. As we also know, If we do not treat nature with respect, who but we from this cyclone and calamity prone area know best about how angrily nature can lash back at us. This year we are having more summer rains proir to the monsoons. And luckily too, the recent cyclone "Mahasen' passed by with less disaster and with only heavy winds in some areas, destrying property and coming down as torrential rain and becoming weaker after hitting the coastal islands, but not with the harshness as the foretimes, as we remember from the memories of the cyclone SIDR, that hit the coastal banks Nov 2007, bringing death tolls of more than 5000. Not to forget either, that we also fall in the earthquake faults zones, and are frequently visitied by them and always hoping their richter scales will be below 4-5, and hoping against hope that the building codes have been properly managed, and the city can sustain the pressure of nature'scalamities, cracks and faults and the unexpected human load! Watch the wonderful green under the sun and rain saved in some parts and lost at others, amidst concentrated building growth and how the rooftop greens and in between the saving of 'Greens" have kept us going. 

Preserving the green

As we loose the green

Growing in line with the green...

 

The lush green from summer rains

As the rain comes pouring down....

As the wind lashes with speed bringing down torrential rain on ripening mangoes...

Rain-washed sky with more clouds continuing to fill through out  the day....

Floating rain clouds

As we are having more rains this year, at this time prior to monsoons, more clouds fill the sky the entire day bringing heavy downpour from the moisture laden strong winds, sometimes from cyclones forming in the 
Bay of Bengal.

Avenues and parks around the capital city's Parliament Building draped in flame colours of yellow, orange and red.....

This is the time of the year that makes this city burst into its splendid colours. Its a sight to see! In addition, the added  'avenue art ' that is seen on the road is the remnant of the 'Baishakhi Alpona', from the Bangla New Year celebrations,  artwork done on the eve of Bangla New Year by artists from all walks of the city, young and old. These avenues appear to be simply draped by these special, big blossoming trees which include the red Poincianas, true natives of forests of Madagascar as I have known, but suited to this climate, or may even be known as Flame trees, red and yellow, or in simple Bangla the Krishna, the red and yellow, the Radhachruras and the yellow 'Shornojuries' hanging golden bunches, that line the side entrances of the extended areas of the Parliament Building. They are simply gorgeous, captivating to everyone's eyesight, as they burst into their colours and ornamentally decorate the different parts of the city where they align the avenues, and bring the different parts of the city areas into a splendour of bright sun-colours! As you walk around through the Avenues  around the Parliament Building surrounded by lush expanse of parks and lakes, you are taken by surprise as the area is simply lit up by its sparkling surrounding, romantic if some may describe it as, or simply gorgeous and firece for others, or just simply a city  'in Flames', whatever you may like to say or however you may like to express.... Simply stunning and extremely refreshing, for the tired city dwellers day or evening relaxations, amidst the heat of the summer. Take a close look.