Clogged traffic chokes living in capital city
Thursday, 14 January 2010
Shahiduzzaman Khan
Traffic management system in the metropolis is back to square again. And it now takes more time, at times, to reach Motijheel from Gulshan (this is being cited here as an example) in the capital city of Dhaka by road than what it requires to journey from Dhaka to Bangkok by air. The same is the situation with regard to time required to reach similar distance between any two points in the city by road. What a loss of working hours! What a misuse of resources in any other conceivable way!
Traffic rules are being blatantly violated, automated signals at many points are not working and the traffic police are again seen giving manual signals in the capital city.
There is, indeed, no respite from horrendous traffic snarls. What is happening at busy intersections of the roads these days is that the traffic police and sergeants are reluctant to take action against lane violators, illegal parking and obstruction of vehicular movement. Again, the authorities failed to install the required number of automated signals at many points. Nobody knows what the close-circuit television sets installed at vital intersections of the roads are doing in locating lane violators.
The month-long special drive to get rid of old and dilapidated vehicles, launched on December 8, ended in a utter failure. Media reported seizure of some old and unfit transports as a result of the drive. Yet more surprisingly, the drive allegedly helped a section of unscrupulous members of the law enforcing agencies to receive speed money. Most of the money collected as fines allegedly went to the pockets of the traffic policemen. It was witnessed that on-duty policemen were more interested in filing cases and collecting fine than improving the situation. Besides, in most cases they also receive bribe instead of filing cases, depriving the government of the revenue. Although they hauled up some old vehicles and threw them into the garbage but their number is far less than anticipated. Old buses and cars have returned to the streets again with renewed vigour after the drive.
Indeed, the city's traffic management registered a slight improvement immediately after introduction of lane system on major roads in the capital and re-launching of light signals, phasing out manual control from November 22. Yet of late, the same old situation returned, with reckless driving continuing everywhere on the city roads. The city dwellers observed poor enforcement of traffic rules and absence of traffic monitoring teams' activities, which led to severe traffic gridlocks.
Over the years, it has been witnessed that when a new system is enforced, most of the buses and CNG auto rickshaws without valid documents, disappear from the streets. What is the reason? Obviously, they try to escape imminent crack. The DMP, along with the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC), decided, all on a sudden, to switch over to automated traffic signal. The preparations were highly inadequate. They did not learn from their past failures when the automated system was launched. Some of the automated traffic signals had gone out of order since long. Without repairing those, the authorities re-launched the system in haste and faced an unprecedented challenge. With the re-launching of the new automated system, the traffic system appeared on the verge of complete breakdown with the roads and highways getting tediously clogged. Then, the DMP and the DCC started accusing each other for the lapses in re-launching the system. Without synchronising each and every traffic light, what had led them to go for such a dubious re-launch so suddenly?
There is no denying the fact that the traffic situation across the capital keeps on worsening every day much to the plight of city residents while the authorities sit on various projects to improve the city's infrastructure. The capital experiences gridlock before 9:00am on almost every working day in most parts of the city, causing untold sufferings to hundreds of commuters. And the situation is no better in some areas of the city even after 9 p.m. It takes about two hours to travel a distance of only eight kilometres during peak times. Many city lanes got jammed by rickshaws. Parents travelling by rickshaws with their children remained stranded for hours on their way back home from schools.
The number of motorised vehicles in the capital increased significantly in recent years but successive governments failed to implement infrastructure projects in time. Official statistics show over 0.2 million buses, trucks, and cars now ply the city roads, while about 20,000 vehicles on an average add to the number every year. The Dhaka city has only seven per cent roads network against the international standard of 25 percent. The government has plans to implement short-term projects like construction of overpasses and underpasses for vehicles and linking roads, bypasses, and roads. But it might also take years to complete these projects.
Since the time factor is of utmost importance, the present government wants to build the elevated expressways first, then go for underground railway. In case of metro rail, it would take at least two years to complete all the initial procedures such as conducting a feasibility study, preparing tender documents and selecting an eligible firm to begin the construction of the mega transport project. Side by side, the government has planned to go ahead with a long-term mega project to establish an integrated environment-friendly traffic management system in greater Dhaka to relieve people of the nagging traffic congestion. The 20-year Strategic Transport Plan (STP) includes projects like metro train services, elevated motorways, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), construction of roads connecting the east of the capital to the west, flyovers, footbridges and new roads, and repair of damaged thoroughfares etc.
What is urgently needed at this stage is that the government should make a concrete initiative to build elevated expressways, underground rails etc., to help ease the capital's nagging traffic jam. The STP was endorsed in 2006, but since then nothing of substance happened at its implementation. It is time to make the capital city habitable by cleansing it of environment pollution and traffic jams.
szkhan@thefinancialexpress-bd.com
Traffic management system in the metropolis is back to square again. And it now takes more time, at times, to reach Motijheel from Gulshan (this is being cited here as an example) in the capital city of Dhaka by road than what it requires to journey from Dhaka to Bangkok by air. The same is the situation with regard to time required to reach similar distance between any two points in the city by road. What a loss of working hours! What a misuse of resources in any other conceivable way!
Traffic rules are being blatantly violated, automated signals at many points are not working and the traffic police are again seen giving manual signals in the capital city.
There is, indeed, no respite from horrendous traffic snarls. What is happening at busy intersections of the roads these days is that the traffic police and sergeants are reluctant to take action against lane violators, illegal parking and obstruction of vehicular movement. Again, the authorities failed to install the required number of automated signals at many points. Nobody knows what the close-circuit television sets installed at vital intersections of the roads are doing in locating lane violators.
The month-long special drive to get rid of old and dilapidated vehicles, launched on December 8, ended in a utter failure. Media reported seizure of some old and unfit transports as a result of the drive. Yet more surprisingly, the drive allegedly helped a section of unscrupulous members of the law enforcing agencies to receive speed money. Most of the money collected as fines allegedly went to the pockets of the traffic policemen. It was witnessed that on-duty policemen were more interested in filing cases and collecting fine than improving the situation. Besides, in most cases they also receive bribe instead of filing cases, depriving the government of the revenue. Although they hauled up some old vehicles and threw them into the garbage but their number is far less than anticipated. Old buses and cars have returned to the streets again with renewed vigour after the drive.
Indeed, the city's traffic management registered a slight improvement immediately after introduction of lane system on major roads in the capital and re-launching of light signals, phasing out manual control from November 22. Yet of late, the same old situation returned, with reckless driving continuing everywhere on the city roads. The city dwellers observed poor enforcement of traffic rules and absence of traffic monitoring teams' activities, which led to severe traffic gridlocks.
Over the years, it has been witnessed that when a new system is enforced, most of the buses and CNG auto rickshaws without valid documents, disappear from the streets. What is the reason? Obviously, they try to escape imminent crack. The DMP, along with the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC), decided, all on a sudden, to switch over to automated traffic signal. The preparations were highly inadequate. They did not learn from their past failures when the automated system was launched. Some of the automated traffic signals had gone out of order since long. Without repairing those, the authorities re-launched the system in haste and faced an unprecedented challenge. With the re-launching of the new automated system, the traffic system appeared on the verge of complete breakdown with the roads and highways getting tediously clogged. Then, the DMP and the DCC started accusing each other for the lapses in re-launching the system. Without synchronising each and every traffic light, what had led them to go for such a dubious re-launch so suddenly?
There is no denying the fact that the traffic situation across the capital keeps on worsening every day much to the plight of city residents while the authorities sit on various projects to improve the city's infrastructure. The capital experiences gridlock before 9:00am on almost every working day in most parts of the city, causing untold sufferings to hundreds of commuters. And the situation is no better in some areas of the city even after 9 p.m. It takes about two hours to travel a distance of only eight kilometres during peak times. Many city lanes got jammed by rickshaws. Parents travelling by rickshaws with their children remained stranded for hours on their way back home from schools.
The number of motorised vehicles in the capital increased significantly in recent years but successive governments failed to implement infrastructure projects in time. Official statistics show over 0.2 million buses, trucks, and cars now ply the city roads, while about 20,000 vehicles on an average add to the number every year. The Dhaka city has only seven per cent roads network against the international standard of 25 percent. The government has plans to implement short-term projects like construction of overpasses and underpasses for vehicles and linking roads, bypasses, and roads. But it might also take years to complete these projects.
Since the time factor is of utmost importance, the present government wants to build the elevated expressways first, then go for underground railway. In case of metro rail, it would take at least two years to complete all the initial procedures such as conducting a feasibility study, preparing tender documents and selecting an eligible firm to begin the construction of the mega transport project. Side by side, the government has planned to go ahead with a long-term mega project to establish an integrated environment-friendly traffic management system in greater Dhaka to relieve people of the nagging traffic congestion. The 20-year Strategic Transport Plan (STP) includes projects like metro train services, elevated motorways, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), construction of roads connecting the east of the capital to the west, flyovers, footbridges and new roads, and repair of damaged thoroughfares etc.
What is urgently needed at this stage is that the government should make a concrete initiative to build elevated expressways, underground rails etc., to help ease the capital's nagging traffic jam. The STP was endorsed in 2006, but since then nothing of substance happened at its implementation. It is time to make the capital city habitable by cleansing it of environment pollution and traffic jams.
szkhan@thefinancialexpress-bd.com