Deployment of army yields no result
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
FE Report
The chronic traffic congestion continued to paralyse the capital even after members of Bangladesh Army were deployed Tuesday on the streets aiming to ease the notorious snarl.
Dhaka, one of the fastest-growing mega cities in the world, is also known as one of the slowest moving cities thanks to the niggling traffic gridlock.
The congestion has aggravated recently as the shoppers in droves throng around 35 shopping malls, over 350 supermarkets and more than 300,000 shops in the city until midnight to shop for the upcoming festivals.
The situation has reached an unbearable proportion ahead of the Muslim feast of Eid al-Fitr, which is due Sunday or Monday, followed by the Durga Puja, the biggest Bengali Hindu festival.
On Tuesday, the government deployed members of Bangladesh Army onto the streets in a desperate attempt to contain the snarl.
"The military police will be backing up regular traffic police personnel on the streets," Home Minister Shamsul Haq Tuku said.
"The army men have been deployed to help police to ease traffic jams in Dhaka city," a statement from the home ministry said.
About 30 members of the military police were seen regulating traffic movements since morning in the city's four key intersections Farmgate, Karwan Bazar, Mohakhali and Maghbazar.
But their deployment yielded very little result with vehicles seen stuck up on the roads for hours. A bout of rain in the noon worsened the situation further.
The chronic traffic congestion continued to paralyse the capital even after members of Bangladesh Army were deployed Tuesday on the streets aiming to ease the notorious snarl.
Dhaka, one of the fastest-growing mega cities in the world, is also known as one of the slowest moving cities thanks to the niggling traffic gridlock.
The congestion has aggravated recently as the shoppers in droves throng around 35 shopping malls, over 350 supermarkets and more than 300,000 shops in the city until midnight to shop for the upcoming festivals.
The situation has reached an unbearable proportion ahead of the Muslim feast of Eid al-Fitr, which is due Sunday or Monday, followed by the Durga Puja, the biggest Bengali Hindu festival.
On Tuesday, the government deployed members of Bangladesh Army onto the streets in a desperate attempt to contain the snarl.
"The military police will be backing up regular traffic police personnel on the streets," Home Minister Shamsul Haq Tuku said.
"The army men have been deployed to help police to ease traffic jams in Dhaka city," a statement from the home ministry said.
About 30 members of the military police were seen regulating traffic movements since morning in the city's four key intersections Farmgate, Karwan Bazar, Mohakhali and Maghbazar.
But their deployment yielded very little result with vehicles seen stuck up on the roads for hours. A bout of rain in the noon worsened the situation further.