Communications Minister Obaidul Quader has, once again, expressed determination to remove the old and unfit vehicles from the city. Talking to reporters last week, Mr. Quader announced that a coordinated drive would start next month in this connection, aiming to reduce road mishaps and traffic jam. The minister urged members of the public, media and relevant government agencies to cooperate with the drive.
We also feel that everyone should extend support to the initiative taken by the communications minister to get rid of the unfit buses, minibuses, tempos and human haulers which ply crowded city streets, endangering public safety. However, commuters are accustomed to witness this sort of drive that was conducted several times in the past without the desired results. Last year, the government had taken steps to phase out about 1,14,000 vehicles plying the city roads without fitness certificates. Obaidul Quader who was holding the portfolio of the communications ministry in the immediate past Awami League-led grand alliance government, had given the same message to media that the move was aimed at easing acute gridlock. But the situation has not improved despite steps taken by the authorities concerned.
We know that unregistered and faulty vehicles plying in larger numbers not only contribute to traffic jam but also cause frequent accidents. Earlier the communications minister had also asked the owners of worn-out vehicles plying the streets to paint those as these are affecting the beauty of the city. The minister's instruction is welcome. But it should be the first priority to reduce the number of fatal road accidents occurring often and to take effective steps to ease gridlock. All the successive governments took efforts to beautify the metropolis. Former president HM Ershad during his nearly 10-year rule had declared that he would turn Dhaka city into 'Tilottoma', a goddess symbolizing beauty. But in the past no serious efforts were taken to create parking lots, grounds etc., for holding mass rallies and other facilities for smooth operation of public transport system. The situation has now come to such a pass that the commuters face intolerable traffic congestion every day.
We know that tragic road accidents leave a large number of people killed every year across the country. Unskilled drivers without licences are largely blamed for road mishaps. Road users are also found unconcerned about their own safety.
The members of the public, on the other hand, have bitter experience so far as enforcement of traffic rules is concerned. The violators of rules, at times, are allowed to go unpunished for reasons best known to all. Untrained drivers, holding fake driving licences and without fitness certificates, ply the vehicles with impunity. The unskilled drivers, many of them conductors or helpers of passenger buses and minibuses, ply their faulty vehicles at top speed, defying traffic rules under the very nose of law enforcers. In the process, the safety of passengers is grossly ignored. This is a problem which, one must agree, is not difficult to overcome and ensure safe travel for the road users. Until this is done, cosmetic surgery on the old and unfit vehicles will serve no purpose in respect of ensuring public safety. Moreover, despite the ban on plying of buses, minibuses and trucks in Dhaka city which are over 20-year old, the transport operators continue to defy the restriction with impunity.
In early 2011, the owners of old and worn-out vehicles hastily carried out repairing and repainting of those both in Dhaka and Chittagong cities, ahead of the ICC World Cup Cricket as per government directive. A circular issued by the government at that time warned that if the old and worn-old vehicles were found plying after February 10, 2011, legal action would be taken against the owners for violating traffic rules. But as soon as the WC cricket event was over, the worn-out vehicles were back to the streets.
The number one problem relating to traffic jam, however, lies in plying of vehicles nearly five times higher than the capacity of roads in the metropolis. According to a dependable estimate, the city roads are capable to bear the pressure of 0.15 million automobiles. The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) has issued licences to about 0.75 million automobiles. In addition, nearly 0.2 million vehicles from outside ply on the city roads every day. This is another reason for traffic mess.
(e-mail: [email protected])
© 2024 - All Rights with The Financial Express
