Now that the illegal grabbers and street vendors are gone -- at least for the time being -- pedestrians find most of the sidewalks in the capital unfit for their use as those are either poorly maintained or tainted with all sorts of garbage including human waste.

Scattered litter, construction materials and debris, missing or damaged slabs, potholes leading to underground sewerage lines, missing manhole lids, overspilling garbage containers, human wastes along with horrible stench -- all are only a few of several problems the sidewalks of this city are grappling with.

"We were moved to think about walking on the streets unperturbed when they [the present interim government] launched drives to remove street vendors and encroachers, but things haven't changed much as the pavements are still too dirty to walk on," said Nahida Parveen, a resident of Moghbazar.

Worst examples of poorly maintained sidewalks would be the one beside Tejgaon Girls' School on Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue, the one next to BCSIR [Science Laboratory], the sidewalk near Mouchak Market at Malibagh, the one near the foot over bridge at Kakoli, Banani and the sidewalk on Asad Avenue.

These filthy sidewalks tend to overpower the passers-by with disgusting odour and compel them to get down and walk on the streets instead.

Nazmul Ahmed, residing in the Bangla Motor area, was seen passing through the sidewalk with long strides next to Kawran Bazar Ambar Shah mosque on Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue while pressing a handkerchief tightly against his nose.

"There are signs all over the walls prohibiting urinating or defecating, but I wonder if anyone cares about the signs anyway," said a disgusted Ahmed. "It's so disgusting that the other day I saw this school kid throwing up while passing by this pavement. I'm just surprised to see the authorities doing basically nothing to clean one of the hectically busy sidewalks in the city."

Similar scenes were seen on Asad Avenue at Mohammadpur, at Science Laboratory and in Malibagh where the pavements are always missing a slab or two and are flooded with raw sewage from clogged up lines underneath. Pedestrians here also find no other alternative but to get down and walk on the streets risking their lives only to avoid the nuisance on the sidewalks.

"Anyone walking from Moghbazar to Bangla Motor has to use a handkerchief at least three times to subdue the foul odours from dustbins and filth scattered on or near the sidewalks here," said Shakil, a resident of Moghbazar.

When this correspondent asked local residents the reason behind the current state of the sidewalks, they blamed the pedestrians and the authorities while the authorities blamed the local residents for littering and polluting the environment.

"I put up signs on the wall asking not to urinate or litter on the pavement next to my house, but it doesn't seem that anyone actually cares about those signs," said Mazharul Huq, a homeowner residing at Banani. "I don't think Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) really bothers about it as we have to hire our own cleaners to keep the pavement adjacent to my house clean."

Kamal Hossain from Malibagh blamed the neighbourhood businesses including food stores for littering in front of his house. "I personally asked them not to dump garbage on the street as it spoils the atmosphere of the area, but they just dump the garbage here anyway."

"I don't think DCC truly cares to cleaning garbage inside alleys and side roads. They are only interested to clean the main roads," said a frustrated Kamal.

Mohammad Hakim, leader of the DCC cleaners in division 6 and responsible for cleaning the area in Kawran Bazar, blamed the local businesses and pedestrians for littering on the sidewalks.

"There is very little we can do about it as people keep dumping garbage and urinating all over the place," said Hakim. "We have 12 people working here each and every morning to tidy up the streets, but it's hard to keep up the pace with hundreds of people messing it all up."

Mohammad Shahjahan, a DCC conservancy official in the same division, blamed the lack of hygiene awareness amongst the common people who litter on sidewalks.

"There is very little we can do without cooperation from the common people. If they want to have a clean environment, they should drop their habits to indiscriminately litter just everywhere," said Rahman, adding, "We could also use the help from police to monitor the unsystematic dumping of waste."

Sohel Faruque, chief conservancy officer at DCC, could not be reached for his comments on this issue. An official from his department however told this correspondent that they have the whole city divided into different divisions with the work effectively distributed among the cleaners.

"I am not aware of any irregularities on this issue as everything is being properly regulated and monitored, but in case of exceptions, we can take special measures to clean up a specific place after receiving specific complaints," the official added.

According to Dilbahar Ahmed, assistant town planner at DCC, it is the right time to repair and refurbish the sidewalks in the capital.

"The corporation [DCC] should take steps to refurbish the street pavements as the monsoon is just round the corner and with the current state of the streets and pavements, the sewerage drains are bound to get overflowed and create nuisance for the pedestrians," said Ahmed.