A fountain is left to lie derelict in front of the foreign ministry in the capital. The photograph was taken on Monday. — Sanaul Haque

Most of the Dhaka city fountains, set up as part of city beautification, are in poor condition in the absence of proper care by the authorities concerned.
There is no specific data regarding the fountains though Dhaka South City Corporation officials
said there were eight fountains under the city corporation.
In front of Bangabhaban, there is a fountain which is out of order for last nine months, said ansar Rafiq, who lives near the fountain, on March 18.
When revisited on April 1, he said, ‘The fountain was run on March 26 on the occasion of National and Independence Day but because of low voltage the motor of the fountain again conked out.’
Dhaka South City Corporation revenue officer Sheikh Kuddus Ahmed said the advertisement and beatification cell was supposed to take care of the fountains under the city corporation revenue department.
‘We take special care of the fountains only on special days of the nation,’ he said.
Kuddus said they had informed the power department about the dysfunctional fountains but they did not get any response in this regard.
The fountains in front of Motijheel Agrani Bank, Shapla Chattar and Sajal Chattar near Dhanmondi Labaid Hospital are now gardens.
Dulal Saha, a guard at Agrani Bank, said once there was a fountain on the bank premises but for the past six years it was in a bad condition.
At Bangabandhu Square there is a fountain which has no water and the caretaker of the fountain said, ‘We are cleaning the water of the fountain.’
The fountain beside Bangabhaban is in the same condition.
In front of the foreign affairs ministry office, there is a fountain known as ‘Kadamphul Foara’.
A portion of the fountain has remained inoperative, said Golam Mawla, caretaker of the fountain. The fountain is fully run only on national days, he added.
Mawla also said, ‘Sometimes we cannot run it for low voltage and sometimes for power cuts.’
The Minto Road fountain also does not work properly while only the fountain at the Shahbagh intersection works properly.
However, SAARC fountain and the fountain opposite the Prime Minister’s Office are under the Dhaka North City Corporation.
Of the two, the one opposite the PMO is in good condition but the SAARC fountain is out of order.
For beautifying the city, the erstwhile Dhaka City Corporation had developed the fountain and gardens at different important spots of the city, said Dhaka North City Corporation executive engineer Rafiqul Islam.
He added that mainly Dhaka city zonal officers were responsible for the maintenance of these
fountains.