Ambulance siren in Dhaka

A new phenomenon has lately been added to Dhaka's urban chaos. It is the blaring sirens of ambulances. With the mushrooming of private hospitals and clinics, the number of ambulances has also witnessed a sharp rise. That's natural.

Ambulances are an integral part of a modern city's healthcare sector. The reason they speed along the streets with loud sirens is ensuring their unhindered movement. In the large cities around the world, ambulances are normally allowed the privilege to pass through thick traffic. Apart from traffic police, the persons driving transports of various types also help an ambulance reach hospitals or rush to pick a patient from home. But in Dhaka, we see ambulances stuck in traffic gridlock for long hours. Even if one feels inclined to make way for an ambulance in traffic jam, they find themselves helpless. There is little space for the emergency vehicle to move forward.

But the problem lies elsewhere. In spite of an ambulance's inability to move in a thick traffic, the vehicle keeps its siren on. Its deafening shrill sound creates a horrifying atmosphere, adding to the maddening noise coming from all sides. Ambulance-sirens are of no use in this lawless, cruel city.

The helplessness of the ambulances and the siren's futility reminds me of the days when firefighters' trucks used to rush through the city streets, with their bells making frenzied ding dongs. The silence of many a midnight in Dhaka would be shattered by the sound of this bell. Amid a thin traffic, the firefighters' trucks in those days could reach the venue of a blaze in no time.

Mofizul Haque

Tejkunipara

Dhaka