A few days back, the authorities concerned launched a drive against unfit vehicles, particularly the passenger buses, plying the city streets. Mobile courts headed by magistrates seized a number of vehicles and imposed fines on their owners.
The immediate response to the drive was a usual one---owners of a good number of buses that are not road-worthy decided to keep their vehicles off the streets for sometime to avoid what they describe 'harassment'.
The drive against 'unfit' buses also produced a few other obvious results--- sufferings of the commuters and media reports on such sufferings.
The common people are not aware whether the drive is still on or it has been discontinued. Yet slow but gradual return of dilapidated buses to the city streets during the last couple of days does indicate that the drive is no more there.
This has become more of a fashion on the part of the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) to launch all on a sudden the so-called drive against unfit buses plying the streets of Dhaka city. The drive usually lasts for two to three days. Except for causing sufferings to the users of public transports, such drives have never produced any tangible results.
Going by the state of things as far as the traffic management of Dhaka city is concerned, one has ample reasons to conclude that the situation is well beyond correction.
Mismanagement, apathy, graft and use of political influence have rendered the country's road transport sector unmanageable. The manifestation of the rot is more prominent in the streets of Dhaka city where a sort of anarchy prevails.
Interestingly, both private bus owners and workers tend to flex their political muscle to maintain control over the streets and do whatever they like. In doing so, both the parties demonstrate unanimity and rarely oppose each other.
The owners and workers do also have one common approach as far as the toll collection is concerned. The associations of bus owners collect toll from all the buses plying across the country and they also allow the transport workers' unions to do the same. The owners' associations spend the money thus collected to grease the palms of the officials, in-charge of transport affairs, and a few of their political masters. The funds collected everyday by the trade unions go to the pocket of their leaders and their patrons at high places.
It is hard to know how much money is collected as toll in the transport sector everyday. Some people estimate the amount in billions of taka. That is purely a guesstimate. Yet the amount must be substantial.
As far as the poor traffic management in Dhaka city is concerned, experts, in addition to other factors, often blame the faulty and inadequate road network and the presence of too many vehicles.
But the traffic situation would have been better even under the prevailing circumstances only if the BRTA and the DMP's traffic department could enforce the motor vehicle rules strictly.
But none of the two has ever been serious about their business primarily for two factors, political muscle-flexing and graft.
Had the BRTA and the traffic police decided that they would not allow plying of unfit and unregistered vehicles and drivers operating motor vehicles without valid driving licences, the traffic flow would have reduced to almost half across the country. However, it is unlikely that these agencies would ever take such serious initiatives.
One also has to realize the fact that such hard actions might lead to the collapse of the transport sector. The transport owners and workers would take retaliatory measures instantly if any attempt is made to enforce tough disciplinary actions.
The problem has gone so deep and the highhandedness of the transport owners and workers reached such a level that it is hard to take any meaningful corrective measure. In fact, successive governments have been responsible for brining the anarchy to such a height.
The government has been building flyovers at various points of the city to help ease its traffic situation. It might help initially, but not for a long period. The metro rail, the bus rapid transit (BRT) and the elevated expressway are other mega projects that aim at making the movement of commuters relatively comfortable. But unless and until the relevant provisions of the motor vehicle act are enforced faithfully, the traffic movement in Dhaka city would continue to be chaotic as ever.
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