Flouting traffic rules, other ills blamed for gridlocks

Poor enforcement of traffic rules has been blamed for aggravation of Dhaka city's traffic movement leading to agonising gridlocks as many people, especially the influential ones, have a tendency to break rules, speakers at a roundtable said Wednesday. They said people ranging from ministers to politicians, big businesspersons to high government officials try to manipulate their position or ties to higher authorities whenever they are singled out for breaking traffic rules. Bangladesh Reconditioned Vehicles Importers and Dealers Association (BARVIDA) organised the roundtable at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel in the city to work out immediate solutions to traffic jams as it eats up Tk 200 billion by killing valuable working hours and burning fuels. Shipping minister Shahjahan Khan, who is also the president of Roads and Transport Federation, and former communications minister Nazmul Huda addressed the meeting. Among others, chairman of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labour and Manpower Israfil Alam and member of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications Golam Mowla Roni, Joint Police Commissioner Mahbubur Rahman, Deputy Secretary of the Industries Ministry Tapan Kumar Nath, BGMEA president Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, secretary general of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon (BAPA) Iqbal Habib and former DCCI vice president Sekil Chowdhury spoke on the occasion. BARVIDA president Abdul Mannan Khasru chaired the session and secretary general Abdul Hamid Sharif presented keynote paper on possible immediate solutions to traffic jams. They suggested various immediate solutions like removing illegal parking, freeing footpaths of vendors and other encroachers, reducing the number of slow driving rickshaws, improving traffic signal lights, introducing a school bus management system, hefty fines, increasing police inspection etc. The joint police commissioner said 40 per cent ofthe city's roads could not be used due to poor enforcement of laws against illegal parking, using wrong lanes by vehicles, malfunctioning signal light, occupying of foothpaths and roads by hawkers etc.