Flyovers: No panacea for traffic ills

---

Shamsul Huq Zahid Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the country's longest yet world's most expensive, in terms of per kilomtre construction cost, flyover, popularly known as the Jatrabari-Gulistan flyover on Friday last. Notwithstanding the delays and escalation of construction cost manifolds, the opening of the flyover has come as a great boon to thousands of people who until its opening were required to cross the most notorious and the most troubling traffic point of Dhaka city at a substantial physical sufferings and economic cost, in terms of lost man-hours. Hundreds of thousands of people had no other way but to spend three to four hours at Jatrabari - Sanirakhra point in their vehicles stuck up in severe gridlock. In fact sufferings of people using the Jatarabari exit or entry point have been untold. For the residents living in Demra, Naryanganj and Jatarabari, Syedabad, the crossing of this most crowded traffic point was more of a nightmarish experience than commuting. The Prime Minister while inaugurating the flyover termed it her government's Eid gift for the people. It is of course a major contribution to the move towards easing the difficulties the commuters have to go through daily in Dhaka city and its adjoining areas. However, some works of the project are yet to be completed and it would take some more months to take full benefit of this important transport sector project. On the day following the opening of the flyover to traffic, there were some troubles between drivers of motor vehicles and the collectors of toll, set up at the exit points of the flyover, over the rates of toll. The drivers complained that rates were higher than those published in the media. Such a trouble, however, is nothing unusual, particularly when giving toll for using a flyover is something new to vehicles owners/ drivers. Since the public transports will pass on the extra expenses on account of flyover toll to the passengers, who would again not mind paying a small amount for a trouble-free journey through one of the most difficult traffic point, such a trouble is unlikely to be a recurrent one. The more than 11 kilometre-long Gulistan-Jatrabari flyover has been the most-discussed one, particularly for the time taken to construct it and almost fourfold increase in its cost. Allegations have it that delays were made deliberately to escalate the cost of the country's first ever PPP (public-private partnership) project by its builder whose reputation has not been particularly worth mentioning. The construction of the project had caused enough trouble to the commuters because of the narrowing and cutting of the roads along its long route. They were still happy that the authorities had taken up the project to help them overcome the daily troubles. But what had annoyed them was the long delay in completing the project. The roads beneath the flyover are in a pitiable state and those need immediate repair to ensure smooth movement of vehicles. Besides, piles of rubbles and other materials have remained dumped beneath the flyover. The Dhaka South City Corporation should remove those on an emergency basis to help restore easy movement of vehicles. However, the million dollar question that must be agitating the minds of all stakeholders, including the commuters, is: Will the new flyover bring an end to sufferings of the commuters? To have a clear answer to the question, everybody will have to wait for some more days, until the full completion of the project. Many tend to view that flyovers in an inefficient traffic management system do not deliver the expected results. The flyovers, according to them, do solve traffic congestion problem experienced in particular areas but in the process they transfer the problem to different areas or even intensify the same. A case in point is the traffic gridlock experienced from morning until 10pm in between the Mohakhali Flyover and the newly constructed overpass at Banani rail crossing. Vehicles have easy movement through the Mirpur-Airport flyover or the Kuril flyover but they get stuck in more than two-kilometre long tailback at Kakoli point once they proceed towards Farmgate or Tejgaon. Flyovers are no remedy for deep-seated problems of Dhaka's traffic system where roads have been built unscientifically, key managers are highly incompetent, corrupt and inefficient and road users are uncaring, negligent and prone to breaking traffic rules. Some other major flyovers are now under construction at a substantial cost. In fact, there will be more such flyovers. But those are unlikely to solve the problem of traffic movement. Until and unless the basic flaws in the traffic system---the task might prove daunting one, are removed, the benefits out of those will continue to be less than what the authorities expect. [email protected]