Ambitious strategic transport project
Sunday, 31 August 2008
Residents are found complaining a lot these days about the state of affairs in Dhaka city. Many even tend to describe the city as uninhabitable because its civic problems have turned worse over time because of the indifference on the part of the authorities concerned. Everyday-problems encountered by the Dhakites are many in numbers. At the top of the table of problems is the city's nightmarish traffic congestion. The roads, lanes and by-lanes remain clogged with vehicles from dawn to midnight, forcing people in motor vehicles to spend at least an hour or more to crawl a distance of four to five kilometers during peak hours. In case of trouble on any of the major streets or of movement of the very important persons (VVIPs) the plight of the general road users intensifies further.
The causes of unmanageable traffic situation in Dhaka city are many. A continuous increase in the number of vehicles of all types on the streets is an obvious development when the population of the capital city has been rising constantly. In the sixties and the seventies, the governments were, surely, aware of the future horizontal expansion of the city and its traffic needs. But they had failed to take up appropriate plans and programmes to meet that need. The immediate past political government, though belatedly, took up a massive 20-year Strategic Transport Plan (STP) for 'sustainable, safe and environment-friendly transport communication system, encompassing Dhaka and its adjoining districts. But the four-party alliance government, being true to its proverbial habit of foot-dragging on important national issues, failed to approve and activate the project in right time, leading to the delay in its implementation. The implementation of the first phase of the project was scheduled to start in 2005 and end in 2009.
Chief adviser of the caretaker government Fakhruddin Ahmed last Thursday inaugurated the first phase of the project that aims at developing multi-modal transport system in the burgeoning capital at an estimated expenditure of US dollar 5.2 billion. The STP covers construction and reconstruction of 330 km of roads and highways, including 50 new roads, flyovers, elevated expressways, underground railways, circular waterways, bus rapid transit, bus route rationalization etc. All these sound good. The time-20 years-to be needed for the implementation of the project is quite a long time. Besides, the governments which would occupy the seat of power during this period, if they stick to the past tradition, the project implementation time could rise up to even 40 years.
But, in the meanwhile, if the ongoing mismanagement persists, the traffic system in Dhaka city would collapse totally within a couple of years. And to save the situation, the government does need to take some immediate steps to introduce most modern traffic signaling system at all important road crossings, reduce the number of bus routes, remove old and shabby buses and strictly enforce traffic rules. Buses must not be allowed to stay more than two minutes at the authorized bus stoppages or pick and drop passengers from places other than bus stoppages. This would require strict vigilance by the traffic sergeants. Until the ambitious STP is implemented, there would be traffic congestions on the Dhaka streets. But the authorities concerned would have to be put in extra efforts to help reduce the intensity of the problem. Besides, it is important to address social and economic issues that force the rural poor to migrate to Dhaka in search of employment and create additional pressure on civic facilities.
The causes of unmanageable traffic situation in Dhaka city are many. A continuous increase in the number of vehicles of all types on the streets is an obvious development when the population of the capital city has been rising constantly. In the sixties and the seventies, the governments were, surely, aware of the future horizontal expansion of the city and its traffic needs. But they had failed to take up appropriate plans and programmes to meet that need. The immediate past political government, though belatedly, took up a massive 20-year Strategic Transport Plan (STP) for 'sustainable, safe and environment-friendly transport communication system, encompassing Dhaka and its adjoining districts. But the four-party alliance government, being true to its proverbial habit of foot-dragging on important national issues, failed to approve and activate the project in right time, leading to the delay in its implementation. The implementation of the first phase of the project was scheduled to start in 2005 and end in 2009.
Chief adviser of the caretaker government Fakhruddin Ahmed last Thursday inaugurated the first phase of the project that aims at developing multi-modal transport system in the burgeoning capital at an estimated expenditure of US dollar 5.2 billion. The STP covers construction and reconstruction of 330 km of roads and highways, including 50 new roads, flyovers, elevated expressways, underground railways, circular waterways, bus rapid transit, bus route rationalization etc. All these sound good. The time-20 years-to be needed for the implementation of the project is quite a long time. Besides, the governments which would occupy the seat of power during this period, if they stick to the past tradition, the project implementation time could rise up to even 40 years.
But, in the meanwhile, if the ongoing mismanagement persists, the traffic system in Dhaka city would collapse totally within a couple of years. And to save the situation, the government does need to take some immediate steps to introduce most modern traffic signaling system at all important road crossings, reduce the number of bus routes, remove old and shabby buses and strictly enforce traffic rules. Buses must not be allowed to stay more than two minutes at the authorized bus stoppages or pick and drop passengers from places other than bus stoppages. This would require strict vigilance by the traffic sergeants. Until the ambitious STP is implemented, there would be traffic congestions on the Dhaka streets. But the authorities concerned would have to be put in extra efforts to help reduce the intensity of the problem. Besides, it is important to address social and economic issues that force the rural poor to migrate to Dhaka in search of employment and create additional pressure on civic facilities.