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Bushra Afrin was appointed as Chief Heat Officer of Dhaka North City Corporation last year to deal with the unbearable heat. However, even after a year has passed since Bushra took charge, his work as a hit officer has not yielded any visible results.
The fear of temperature has raised the question of what the work of the Chief Heat Officer of Dhaka City Corporation actually is. There are many types of campaigns going on in the social media. Dhaka's chief heat officer Bushra Afrin's statement about the recent heat has gone viral and is drawing a storm of criticism.
Some died of heatstroke. Besides, the number of patients with diarrhea is increasing in the country's hospitals. The Meteorological Department has already issued a heat alert.
In the minds of the people of Dhaka who suffered from the unbearable heatwave this year, questions have already started to arise about his responsibility as a heat officer, his appointment to this post and the effectiveness of this post.
Chief Heat Officer Bushra Afrin told the media that the City Corporation is trying its best to improve drinking water supply. At the same time, efforts are being made to arrange 'cooling spaces' so that pedestrians get a chance to rest. We must plant more trees and come up with eco-friendly infrastructure.
He said, we have taken several significant steps in the last one year. One of these is to increase public awareness in slum areas. Because, they are one of the most vulnerable population. They have been involved by planting trees in these places and maintaining these trees. Apart from this, we are going to launch various activities in association with several public and private organizations and NGOs, including the Department of Meteorology. As a pilot project in Kalyanpur and Banani, we are going to create 'Urban Forest', which will simultaneously provide cooling, prevent air pollution and improve soil quality.
Chief Heat Officers are usually appointed through local officials. HIT officers are recruited in accordance with Arshot-Rock's recruitment process. The organization is appointing a HEAT officer in each continent. Chief Heat Officers have been appointed in six continents so far. Outside Dhaka, Chief Heat Officers have been appointed in Los Angeles, Miami, Melbourne, Athens and Freetown. One of them is Eleni Myrivili. He serves as the Chief Heat Officer of Athens. He is working to reduce temperature both locally and globally.
Jane Gilbert has been appointed as Arshot-Rock's Chief Heat Officer in Miami-Dade County, USA. He has over 30 years of experience in public-private partnerships, climate disaster mitigation and adaptation, and city resilience. He is increasing green space in the city and creating awareness among locals about heat waves. The Chief Heat Officer for the African continent is Eugenia Kargbo. He is appointed as the Chief Hit Officer of Arshot-Rock in the country's Freetown. He is playing an important role in reducing the temperature of the city. He identified the problems the city of Freetown is facing due to urbanization. For this reason, he is finding creative solutions to reduce the city's temperature and protect vulnerable residents.
On the other hand, the first hit officer in Bangladesh is Bushra Afrin. Bushra is the first Chief Heat Officer not only of Dhaka but also of the Asian continent. As such, there is an expectation from him to the people who are victims of excessive heat waves in other Asian countries. But while the heat officers of other countries are trying to give relief to the residents by taking exceptional measures like cool pavements, planting trees and making canopies, the people of Dhaka are still looking forward to Busha Afrin. Even in the last one year, no activity of him is visible. As a result, aware citizens are always discussing this through various means.
