Dhaka traffic: A nightmare at its worst
Sunday, 7 November 2010
Husain Imam
It will be too mild a statement to say that the transport facilities of Dhaka city are too inadequate and its traffic system is in complete mess. It is a nightmare at its worst.
The city, with an ever burgeoning population, which now probably stands at 14 million, is growing at a rate of 4.2% per year, making it, in terms of population, one of the fastest growing cities in Asia. Yet the city, more appropriately a mega city, has neither an underground railway system nor an elevated express way nor a circular surface railway, nor an efficient taxi cab service nor even an efficient bus service to cope with the ever increasing demand of public transport.
Who would believe that a capital city of the 21st century, with a population of 14 million, has for its citizens from middle income group (that constitutes more than 60 per cent of the total population of the city) only three-wheeler cycle rickshaws and CNG auto-rickshaws as their main modes of transport, although these cycle-rickshaws and CNGs are nowadays neither safe nor cheap by any means? And these vehicles neither carry any approved fare chart nor operate on metre. The result being, they are free to go (or not to go) anywhere and charge fare at their will.
Yes, there are several thousand buses plying as part of the city bus service. But these buses are neither safe nor easily accessible. To be a rider of these vehicles, you got to have strong muscle and enough dexterity to get on a running bus. If you are a weak or old person, you better not attempt it. And, according to Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), at least half of them are unfit or unsafe either because they are old and outlived or because they are operated by fake license holders.
Lack of adequate transport facilities for the people, especially for those of middle income group, is one aspect of the misery of the city dwellers. The other aspect, which is more painstaking, is the unprecedented traffic jam that has almost paralysed the city life. Because of traffic jam, one has to go through the nightmare of spending hours on the streets before reaching one's destination. The result is: loss of time, energy, money and business. For a patient needing emergency medical care, at times it turns out to be tragic event of irreparable loss.
The situation has been further aggravated by the order of the government to keep the CNG filling stations closed for 6 hours from 3pm to 9 pm every day. As a result, it now takes a minimum of 2-3 hours for a vehicle to refuel its cylinders.
The decision to keep the CNG stations closed for 6 hours everyday has not only increased the sufferings of the daily commuters travelling by cars or CNGs but has also angered, and rightly so, both the CNG operators and owners of filling stations for loss of their business. They government will be well advised to review this decision and reduce the stoppage hours, if they do not wish to totally withdraw the decision.
The inhabitants of Dhaka city are aggrieved and resentful against the city administration, and for that matter, the government, not so much for their failure to bring about any improvement in the traffic management of the city, as for their failure to show any sincere effort to address the issue.
It is not that the people of Dhaka city are suffering only from traffic jam or lack of suitable transport facilities. Acute power crisis leading to persistent load shedding almost every alternate hour has made their life equally miserable. Gas and water crisis have made things even worse. Yet they are facing these problems with patience because the government looked serious in solving these problems. They have presented a road map and assured the public that the electricity problem will be over by 2012, the water and gas problem taking more or less the same period.
Unfortunately the same thing did not happen with regard to improving the traffic management of the capital city. Steps taken by the government so far -- opening of the bypass road from Bijo Sharani to Tejgaon, introduction of a water bus service between Gabtali and Sadar ghat (with only two 30-passenger capacity motor vessels!), resumption of work of Jtrabari-Gulistan fly-over and cabinet approval of an elevated express way from Uttara to Jatrabari -- are by no means enough to convince the people that their transport problems are going to be over soon.
The communication minister's recent announcement that some six thousand new taxi cabs and one thousand buses will be on the streets of the capital city soon to ease the transport problem of the city is not convincing either. The addition of these vehicles will only help increase the traffic jam unless the old and unfit vehicles are simultaneously withdrawn and the number of cycle rickshaws drastically reduced.
At times, Dhaka Metropolitan Police initiated some measures, such as withdrawal of old and unfit vehicles from the routes, introduction of lane system, compliance of auto signals, enforcement of traffic laws, etc but they never looked serious enough in implementing these decisions for reasons best known to them. They gave up the effort after some time. Now (from November 1) they have again decided to go tough on the violators of traffic rules. Hope, this time they will be serious about it.
Traffic management of Dhaka city, with half a million motorised vehicles along with almost similar number of non-motorised cycle rickshaws plying at a time on the streets that cover hardly 6 per cent of the total land area of the capital city, is undeniably a complex issue. Unplanned growth of the city because of gross negligence, incompetence, greed, corruption and lack of farsightedness on the part of those who were responsible for seeing the overall development of the city has made the city now almost unlivable.
Elevated express way, subway train, circular railway, circular river transport, ring road, flyovers, faster rail connection with the neighbouring districts, shifting of some industrial and business houses from within the city and major improvement of health and educational facilities in the district and upazilla towns (to reverse migration) are some of the measures the government ought to take sooner than later. But these are all long term projects needing huge money and time. Even if they undertake some of these projects now (which they should) it will take 3 to 5 years before the people can reap the benefit.
What will happen in between? Will the people be prepared to wait for years together without any positive development in sight? I doubt if they will. In two to three months' time, the Awami League, as the ruling party, has to face the Dhaka city corporation election and in another three years' time a general election. One might argue that Dhaka is not the whole country. If history is any lesson, Dhaka is not an isolated island either.
It will be, therefore, in the interest of both the ruling party and the general public that the government, side by side with the long-term measures mentioned above, takes up the following short and mid term measures without further delay:
01. Repair the existing roads and free them from all obstacles including city corporation dustbins.
02. Repair the existing footpaths, construct new ones where missing and free them from all unauthorised occupiers.
03. Build flyovers at the rail crossings of the city as quickly as possible.
04. Ensure that the buses stop at only designated places and run on schedule.
05. Ensure that the CNGs and taxi cabs run on metres, if necessary, adjust their metres so that they don't have to run on loss.
06. Reduce the number of cycle rickshaws and replace them by increased number of CNGs, taxi-cabs and public buses.
07. Press into operation as many new double-decker buses as possible replacing the existing old and unfit buses.
08. Introduce bus service for schools.
09. Earmark parking zones and ensure that the vehicle operators park their vehicles only at the designated parking areas.
10. Adjust the auto signals and ensure strict compliance of these signals.
11. Make the zebra crossings and foot over-bridges safe for negotiation.
12. Ensure strict compliance of traffic rules.
And for the public, their immediate job is to elect an honest, educated, wise and dynamic city father.
Capt. Husain Imam is a retired merchant navy officer. He can be reached at e-mail: himam55@yahoo.co.uk
It will be too mild a statement to say that the transport facilities of Dhaka city are too inadequate and its traffic system is in complete mess. It is a nightmare at its worst.
The city, with an ever burgeoning population, which now probably stands at 14 million, is growing at a rate of 4.2% per year, making it, in terms of population, one of the fastest growing cities in Asia. Yet the city, more appropriately a mega city, has neither an underground railway system nor an elevated express way nor a circular surface railway, nor an efficient taxi cab service nor even an efficient bus service to cope with the ever increasing demand of public transport.
Who would believe that a capital city of the 21st century, with a population of 14 million, has for its citizens from middle income group (that constitutes more than 60 per cent of the total population of the city) only three-wheeler cycle rickshaws and CNG auto-rickshaws as their main modes of transport, although these cycle-rickshaws and CNGs are nowadays neither safe nor cheap by any means? And these vehicles neither carry any approved fare chart nor operate on metre. The result being, they are free to go (or not to go) anywhere and charge fare at their will.
Yes, there are several thousand buses plying as part of the city bus service. But these buses are neither safe nor easily accessible. To be a rider of these vehicles, you got to have strong muscle and enough dexterity to get on a running bus. If you are a weak or old person, you better not attempt it. And, according to Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), at least half of them are unfit or unsafe either because they are old and outlived or because they are operated by fake license holders.
Lack of adequate transport facilities for the people, especially for those of middle income group, is one aspect of the misery of the city dwellers. The other aspect, which is more painstaking, is the unprecedented traffic jam that has almost paralysed the city life. Because of traffic jam, one has to go through the nightmare of spending hours on the streets before reaching one's destination. The result is: loss of time, energy, money and business. For a patient needing emergency medical care, at times it turns out to be tragic event of irreparable loss.
The situation has been further aggravated by the order of the government to keep the CNG filling stations closed for 6 hours from 3pm to 9 pm every day. As a result, it now takes a minimum of 2-3 hours for a vehicle to refuel its cylinders.
The decision to keep the CNG stations closed for 6 hours everyday has not only increased the sufferings of the daily commuters travelling by cars or CNGs but has also angered, and rightly so, both the CNG operators and owners of filling stations for loss of their business. They government will be well advised to review this decision and reduce the stoppage hours, if they do not wish to totally withdraw the decision.
The inhabitants of Dhaka city are aggrieved and resentful against the city administration, and for that matter, the government, not so much for their failure to bring about any improvement in the traffic management of the city, as for their failure to show any sincere effort to address the issue.
It is not that the people of Dhaka city are suffering only from traffic jam or lack of suitable transport facilities. Acute power crisis leading to persistent load shedding almost every alternate hour has made their life equally miserable. Gas and water crisis have made things even worse. Yet they are facing these problems with patience because the government looked serious in solving these problems. They have presented a road map and assured the public that the electricity problem will be over by 2012, the water and gas problem taking more or less the same period.
Unfortunately the same thing did not happen with regard to improving the traffic management of the capital city. Steps taken by the government so far -- opening of the bypass road from Bijo Sharani to Tejgaon, introduction of a water bus service between Gabtali and Sadar ghat (with only two 30-passenger capacity motor vessels!), resumption of work of Jtrabari-Gulistan fly-over and cabinet approval of an elevated express way from Uttara to Jatrabari -- are by no means enough to convince the people that their transport problems are going to be over soon.
The communication minister's recent announcement that some six thousand new taxi cabs and one thousand buses will be on the streets of the capital city soon to ease the transport problem of the city is not convincing either. The addition of these vehicles will only help increase the traffic jam unless the old and unfit vehicles are simultaneously withdrawn and the number of cycle rickshaws drastically reduced.
At times, Dhaka Metropolitan Police initiated some measures, such as withdrawal of old and unfit vehicles from the routes, introduction of lane system, compliance of auto signals, enforcement of traffic laws, etc but they never looked serious enough in implementing these decisions for reasons best known to them. They gave up the effort after some time. Now (from November 1) they have again decided to go tough on the violators of traffic rules. Hope, this time they will be serious about it.
Traffic management of Dhaka city, with half a million motorised vehicles along with almost similar number of non-motorised cycle rickshaws plying at a time on the streets that cover hardly 6 per cent of the total land area of the capital city, is undeniably a complex issue. Unplanned growth of the city because of gross negligence, incompetence, greed, corruption and lack of farsightedness on the part of those who were responsible for seeing the overall development of the city has made the city now almost unlivable.
Elevated express way, subway train, circular railway, circular river transport, ring road, flyovers, faster rail connection with the neighbouring districts, shifting of some industrial and business houses from within the city and major improvement of health and educational facilities in the district and upazilla towns (to reverse migration) are some of the measures the government ought to take sooner than later. But these are all long term projects needing huge money and time. Even if they undertake some of these projects now (which they should) it will take 3 to 5 years before the people can reap the benefit.
What will happen in between? Will the people be prepared to wait for years together without any positive development in sight? I doubt if they will. In two to three months' time, the Awami League, as the ruling party, has to face the Dhaka city corporation election and in another three years' time a general election. One might argue that Dhaka is not the whole country. If history is any lesson, Dhaka is not an isolated island either.
It will be, therefore, in the interest of both the ruling party and the general public that the government, side by side with the long-term measures mentioned above, takes up the following short and mid term measures without further delay:
01. Repair the existing roads and free them from all obstacles including city corporation dustbins.
02. Repair the existing footpaths, construct new ones where missing and free them from all unauthorised occupiers.
03. Build flyovers at the rail crossings of the city as quickly as possible.
04. Ensure that the buses stop at only designated places and run on schedule.
05. Ensure that the CNGs and taxi cabs run on metres, if necessary, adjust their metres so that they don't have to run on loss.
06. Reduce the number of cycle rickshaws and replace them by increased number of CNGs, taxi-cabs and public buses.
07. Press into operation as many new double-decker buses as possible replacing the existing old and unfit buses.
08. Introduce bus service for schools.
09. Earmark parking zones and ensure that the vehicle operators park their vehicles only at the designated parking areas.
10. Adjust the auto signals and ensure strict compliance of these signals.
11. Make the zebra crossings and foot over-bridges safe for negotiation.
12. Ensure strict compliance of traffic rules.
And for the public, their immediate job is to elect an honest, educated, wise and dynamic city father.
Capt. Husain Imam is a retired merchant navy officer. He can be reached at e-mail: himam55@yahoo.co.uk