VIP lane

RECENTLY, a the cabinet has approved introduction of separate lanes for the VIPs on the jam-packed public road. The VIPs are highly privileged persons who enjoy some special services in our country. The VIPs in the other countries also enjoy some privileges. In our country they have been availing special services at airports, railways, waterways, hospitals, passports and many other areas for a long time. We know that vehicles for conducting emergency services like ambulance, fire services and law enforcement drive are provided separate lane on a busy road in many developed countries. Citizens of these countries take this system positively but in those countries there is no separate lane for the VIPs on a public road. In our country, during VIP movement on public road, traffic flow remains suspended even during the rush hour which causes immense sufferings for thousands of commuters who are kept stranded in their respective vehicles at the cost of time, money and work hours.

Our urbanisation and public road systems have not been developed in a planned way since the very beginning. The road system in Dhaka city, especially in old part of Dhaka, is very unplanned. Sufferings while moving through the city becomes a common feature for commuters. Huge traffic congestion is a common scene on public roads and highways. We have now more vehicles compared to the road capacity in our country. Some flyovers have already been constructed and elevated services are under construction to ease traffic jam in the big cities. These are very good steps by the government for reducing the traffic jam. But the proposal for separate lane for the VIPS is very unrealistic and not logical in the context of our country's road systems. It will only aggravate the traffic congestion situation instead of reducing that. The government should consider the views of the commuters and also make an assessment with the help of concerned experts before taking any final decision in this regard.

Sincerely yours

Md. Zillur Rahaman

IBBL, Lalmohan, Bhola.