The price hike of essentials, the scarcity of water, power, and low-pressure gas supply have trapped hundreds of thousands of city dwellers in untold miseries, in addition the menace of traffic congestion which has paralysed city life in recent times.

Essentials are now out of reach of low and middle-income people as prices from salt to baby food are increasing with every passing day adding to the rest of the worries the people have to go through.

Sugar that was Tk 36 six months back has shot up to Tk 58, and the authorities have not taken any action about the price hikes as yet.

"The media highlights our agitation, but nothing concrete has come out of it. Is the government really concerned about the people I wonder," said Romena Khatun, a housewife belonging to the lower-middle income.

Rice, flour, plus, edible oil, garlic, powdered milk, salt, tea are no more within the commoners purchasing capacity let alone chicken, fish, beef, and mutton.

Fish supply to the city markets is inadequate and the price is abnormally high.

Prices of various varieties of lentils, potato -- usually the food of the lower income group have also escalated so high that these people struggle hard to survive.

The biggest setback is the highest ever electricity crisis, which always created problems in Dhaka -- the so-called mega city, but now the situation is at its worst.

Against the current demand of 1,400 to 1,500 megawatts of electricity, the supply is only 750 to1,000 megawatts resulting in five to six or more hours of load shedding a day.

Examinees appearing in the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations their first-ever public examination make preparations with the light of candles. In addition the shortage of electricity has brought along with it the shortage of water.

"After studying almost all night, we have no way of taking a shower," said Jahorul Haque, an examinee. "We neither have electricity nor do we have water," he added.

The Dhaka Water and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) is blaming power cuts and low voltage of electricity for the water crisis as they pump out water from the 421 deep tube wells.

Apart from the water crisis, dwellers of the old part of the city are unable to use even the little water they get, as the water gives a bad smell.

According to sources, Wasa produces 130 to 132 crore litres of water against a demand of 160 crore litres a day and 40 to 45 percent of the production is wasted everyday due to system-loss causing a crisis of 80 crore litres of water daily.

City dwellers were not familiar with a gas crisis, and that too has hit them when everything else is going wrong. The situation is bad in kitchens in most areas but is worse in the CNG filling stations.

About 25 stations have suspended operations due to the gas and the electricity crisis, resulting in long queues of vehicles waiting to be re-fuelled.

The worst affected are the commoners who are bound to pay extra to CNG auto rickshaws, taxi cabs and other such vehicles.

"Earlier CNG drivers claimed Tk five to10 in excess to the metered fare. Now they ask for a minimum of Tk 20, blaming the gas crisis and related problems," said Afzal Islam a private service holder.

The election season has started. The wheels of politics are turning in the capital with meetings, rallies and other programmes everyday adding to the already chaotic traffic in the city, along with the unplanned road digging all over the city by the utility service authorities.

The two 'dream flyovers' opened to control the traffic congestion have failed to serve their purpose, because of the lack of vision at the time of their construction.

Overall situation is going from bad to worse, more and more people are migrating to the city daily dreaming of opportunities. It is predicted that in 2016 Dhaka will be the fourth largest city in the world with 21 million people. Are we ready to face this challenge?