Lack of correct diagnosis to ease traffic jams: Some suggestions
Friday, 19 December 2008
Karar Mahmudul Hassan
Different agencies of the government had a number of hectic meetings in the month of October 2008 on traffic issues and several decisions, some pragmatic and mostly not implementable, were taken which the city dwellers and country people came to know through print and electronic media. A news-item titled "Traffic Management: Education Institutions in city asked to start classes at 7.30 am" published in different daily newspaper including The Financial Express and many other dailies on 16-10-08. The report stated that in a bid to ease traffic congestion and ensure smooth traffic management in the capital, the government has asked all educational institutions to start their classes at 7.30 am and they have been asked to comply with the directive regardless of whether their shifts are single or double. The news further states that to strictly enforce the directive, the Education Ministry formed 12 vigilance teams with 36 officials led by 12 Deputy Secretaries and the teams would make separate visits to the educational institutions and submit their reports to the Ministry by 20 October, 20008. The proud citizens of the capital city are still in the darkness till date as to the extent of implementation or otherwise, of those instructions and the resultant impact on the traffic conditions vis-à-vis hazards of the city.
A few weeks back the city's and communication planners emphasized the need for decentralizing administration and industries and side by side, recommended adopting both long and short term traffic management strategies to make Dhaka city liveable, at a Roundtable on "Making Dhaka Liveable: Focusing on Transport Problem" held on 11th October 2008, Professor Nazrul Islam of Centre for Urban Studies, Transport Planning Expert Dr. M Rahmatullah, Brac University VC Professor Jamilur Reza Chowdhury, BAL Advisory Council Member AMA Muhit, Professor Alamgir Mujibul Haq and representatives of BRTA, DTCB. DCC and other stakeholders took part in the day-long deliberations. Besides, Daily Star Editor Mahfuz Anam, Transport Sector Management Reform Team leader Sewn Howrath, World Bank Senior Transport Engineer Mohiuzzaman Kazi, among others took part in the Round Table.
Professor Nazrul Islam (CUS) very appropriately suggested that the use of private vehicles should be minimised and that schools should be set in communities within the students' walking distance. He rightly stressed the need for Bus Rapid Traffic (BRT) and increase in the mobility of people by creating scopes and facilities for walking in the city with reference to about 1.5 million garment workers who walk for about an hour to their workplaces. Dr. M Rahmatullah suggested for the restriction on vehicles registration. Poor traffic management, absence of restrictions on use of private vehicles and non-traffic users occupying the road space, are causing traffic congestion in Dhaka city, he added. A senior journalist present in that meeting listened the discussions and put emphasis on concentrating on solution to the problems rather than discussions.
In the meanwhile, a very high level meeting on traffic issues chaired by Home Ministry Adviser and attended by Secretary of Home Affairs and of Communication, Education as well, plus other top officers of different organizations including Inspector General of Police (IGP), was held in the Ministry of Home on 16.10.08 and a number of decisions were taken for integrating traffic movement in the capital city. The decisions taken in that meeting include reducing bus-routes from existing 138 to 40 in the Dhaka city and it was directed that this decision will have to be implemented before 20th October 2008 at all costs.
Similar news item on rearranging bus routes in the Dhaka city was published on 2nd September, 2008 in the Financial Express, and other daily newspapers six weeks before the above-mentioned meeting, which stated that the authorities introduced 40 bus-routes in the capital and its outskirts after rearranging previous 138 routes to bring discipline in the traffic system and ease vehicular movement in the capital. In that meeting, DMP Commissioner Naim Ahamed, also Chairman of Dhaka Metro Regional Transport Committee (RTC) said that the rearrangement of routes and fixing specific stoppages for buses on different routes would contribute to the easing of traffic congestions.
This kind of overlapping and similar decisions in less than 7 weeks (September-October 2008) is a testimony of carelessness of the government people concerned.
It is a matter of total negligence, nervousness and lack of coordination and follow up action on the part of relevant authorities who are found more interested in announcing decisions - pragmatic or otherwise and communicating those decisions to the print and the electronic media almost every week with a smiling face and then conveniently managing to forget what they publicly announced or committed earlier.
Interestingly, on the rearrangement of bus routes an English daily published news on the following day (03/09/08) titled "New bus routes show signs of easing traffic congestions". The news narrating the impact of new routes and visible improvement on the Dhaka streets, quoting some law enforcers and public transport operators said sparse presence of automated public transports on the streets (02/09/08) was due to a crackdown the day before on some of those which had been fitted with substandard CNG cylinders, following numerous fatal cylinder explosions in the city. Fearing a continuation of the crackdown, many bus and minibus operators especially of the antiquated ones and almost all human haulers stayed off the street on previous day (02/09/08).The above is the factual story of the rearrangement of the capital city's bus routes, impact and the overlapping decisions taken twice within less than weeks by the same authorities
In the Home Adviser's meeting on traffic and related issues on 16.10.08, it was also decided that Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) will initiate all other necessary measures and take effective actions to bring discipline regarding parking of vehicles, especially in Motijheel, Gulshan, Banani, New Market, Dhanmondi and other important areas. It was revealed in the meeting that as many as 65 traffic points have been turned into 'traffic hazards points' by unscrupulous bus operators and others almost round the clock and, as such, traffic police personnel will remain stationed on each of the 65 points to help ease the traffic congestions.
After the meeting, the Home Secretary while talking to the print and electronic media said that police officials from the inspector to Additional Deputy Police Commissioner level will remain on the Dhaka streets from 8.30 am to 10 am and 4.30 pm to 8.30 pm every day to manage and control traffic.
He further said that DMP has been instructed to take appropriate, instant and effective action to keep the Dhaka streets free from illegal parking of vehicles, stocking ordumping of construction materials on the pavements and roadsides, dropping and picking passengers by bus operators unscrupulously from non-designated points on the streets/roads.
The Home Secretary added that DMP has been instructed to pinpoint 269 parking areas in the city streets which will include Motijheel CA and other important busy areas. The Communications Secretary (recently transferred) after coming out from the meeting said that the government is taking steps to import 200 buses in addition to existing 300 owned by BRTC. He added that government will prepare the parking policy within one month to ease traffic jams. A few weeks back, he made a bold declaration that the government will start setting up underground railway system in the Dhaka city. The problem with him is that he did not collect facts correctly and he did hardly feel any urgency for appropriate information or felt the necessity to collect facts and figures that out of total buses owned by BRTC, as many as 171 buses are out of order for long and only 150 BRTC buses are in operation at present. He was not also aware that an agreement was signed between the communications ministry of immediate past political government and the Bangladesh Sarak Paribahan Malik Oikya Perishad, to withdraw 100 BRTC buses from city roads. BRTC was also compelled to sign this unprecedented, illegal and anti-people agreement as the private transport owners and workers threatened to enforce 'non stop' strike unless BRTC suspend operating its buses on Dhaka city streets and interdistrict roads.
Some 13 years back, the then prime Minister, Begum Khaleda Zia in a meeting of the senior police officers held on 25 July 1995, very specifically issued directives to take immediate and effective measures to reduce and ease the traffic congestions in the city of Dhaka.
After about six years of that instruction, the same Prime Minister (Khaleda Zia) elected afresh, within two weeks of forming her new cabinet, (October 2001) had issued similar but specific instructions to the city corporation authorities to take necessary and effective steps to resolve traffic congestions of Dhaka city, make it environment free from environmental hazards, clean and habitable within the shortest possible time. Besides, the Prime Minister had a number of meetings with DCC authorities, DMP, LGRD & C high officials and other stakeholders and urged all for taking appropriate actions for overcoming traffic hazards as early as possible. Unfortunately, none of those directives from chief executive of the country brought any positive improvement whatsoever on the traffic sceneo of Dhaka City. Rather, with the passage of time, the traffic tangles were verywhere in the country and Dhaka city in particular, seriously deteriorated, especially in recent months, very fast as if in geometrical progression.
In the last one decade and a half, dozens of seminars, workshops, round tables, TV- talks, human chains and many other costly discussions, took place on traffic issues and tonnes of resolutions, recommendations, suggestions, advices etc poured in towards addressing the ever-increasing gridlock resulting in stuck-up commuters for hours, every time, every day .But due to lack of appropriate understanding of the traffic related issues and commitment on the part of government and non-pragmatic and non-implementable policy decisions of the authorities concerned and donor agencies as well naked negligence of follow-up actions from actors concerned, the traffic congestion issues have become more complicated, and has seriously deteriorated to a point of almost no return. Side by side, ' The result is the present horrendous traffic congestions in all the parts of Dhaka city, be it posh areas like Gulshan, Banani, Dhanmondi or business areas like Motijheel, Kawran bazaar or Mouchak-Rampura, New Market or Dilkusha. During the entire period of immediate past BNP government, the Communications Minister (2001-2006) was busy dreaming and planning to introduce magnetic train service between Dhaka and Chittagong, underground circular road, 30-km elevated Expressway with fund from Thai government of Thaksin Shinwatra, mono-rail system and many other airy programs, etc for the capital city of Dhaka, neglecting the overall traffic issues in totality, which were causing untold miseries to the city-dwellers almost 24 hours a day.
The writer is a former Secretary to the Government of Bangladesh. He can reached at email: karar.hassan@gmail.com
Different agencies of the government had a number of hectic meetings in the month of October 2008 on traffic issues and several decisions, some pragmatic and mostly not implementable, were taken which the city dwellers and country people came to know through print and electronic media. A news-item titled "Traffic Management: Education Institutions in city asked to start classes at 7.30 am" published in different daily newspaper including The Financial Express and many other dailies on 16-10-08. The report stated that in a bid to ease traffic congestion and ensure smooth traffic management in the capital, the government has asked all educational institutions to start their classes at 7.30 am and they have been asked to comply with the directive regardless of whether their shifts are single or double. The news further states that to strictly enforce the directive, the Education Ministry formed 12 vigilance teams with 36 officials led by 12 Deputy Secretaries and the teams would make separate visits to the educational institutions and submit their reports to the Ministry by 20 October, 20008. The proud citizens of the capital city are still in the darkness till date as to the extent of implementation or otherwise, of those instructions and the resultant impact on the traffic conditions vis-à-vis hazards of the city.
A few weeks back the city's and communication planners emphasized the need for decentralizing administration and industries and side by side, recommended adopting both long and short term traffic management strategies to make Dhaka city liveable, at a Roundtable on "Making Dhaka Liveable: Focusing on Transport Problem" held on 11th October 2008, Professor Nazrul Islam of Centre for Urban Studies, Transport Planning Expert Dr. M Rahmatullah, Brac University VC Professor Jamilur Reza Chowdhury, BAL Advisory Council Member AMA Muhit, Professor Alamgir Mujibul Haq and representatives of BRTA, DTCB. DCC and other stakeholders took part in the day-long deliberations. Besides, Daily Star Editor Mahfuz Anam, Transport Sector Management Reform Team leader Sewn Howrath, World Bank Senior Transport Engineer Mohiuzzaman Kazi, among others took part in the Round Table.
Professor Nazrul Islam (CUS) very appropriately suggested that the use of private vehicles should be minimised and that schools should be set in communities within the students' walking distance. He rightly stressed the need for Bus Rapid Traffic (BRT) and increase in the mobility of people by creating scopes and facilities for walking in the city with reference to about 1.5 million garment workers who walk for about an hour to their workplaces. Dr. M Rahmatullah suggested for the restriction on vehicles registration. Poor traffic management, absence of restrictions on use of private vehicles and non-traffic users occupying the road space, are causing traffic congestion in Dhaka city, he added. A senior journalist present in that meeting listened the discussions and put emphasis on concentrating on solution to the problems rather than discussions.
In the meanwhile, a very high level meeting on traffic issues chaired by Home Ministry Adviser and attended by Secretary of Home Affairs and of Communication, Education as well, plus other top officers of different organizations including Inspector General of Police (IGP), was held in the Ministry of Home on 16.10.08 and a number of decisions were taken for integrating traffic movement in the capital city. The decisions taken in that meeting include reducing bus-routes from existing 138 to 40 in the Dhaka city and it was directed that this decision will have to be implemented before 20th October 2008 at all costs.
Similar news item on rearranging bus routes in the Dhaka city was published on 2nd September, 2008 in the Financial Express, and other daily newspapers six weeks before the above-mentioned meeting, which stated that the authorities introduced 40 bus-routes in the capital and its outskirts after rearranging previous 138 routes to bring discipline in the traffic system and ease vehicular movement in the capital. In that meeting, DMP Commissioner Naim Ahamed, also Chairman of Dhaka Metro Regional Transport Committee (RTC) said that the rearrangement of routes and fixing specific stoppages for buses on different routes would contribute to the easing of traffic congestions.
This kind of overlapping and similar decisions in less than 7 weeks (September-October 2008) is a testimony of carelessness of the government people concerned.
It is a matter of total negligence, nervousness and lack of coordination and follow up action on the part of relevant authorities who are found more interested in announcing decisions - pragmatic or otherwise and communicating those decisions to the print and the electronic media almost every week with a smiling face and then conveniently managing to forget what they publicly announced or committed earlier.
Interestingly, on the rearrangement of bus routes an English daily published news on the following day (03/09/08) titled "New bus routes show signs of easing traffic congestions". The news narrating the impact of new routes and visible improvement on the Dhaka streets, quoting some law enforcers and public transport operators said sparse presence of automated public transports on the streets (02/09/08) was due to a crackdown the day before on some of those which had been fitted with substandard CNG cylinders, following numerous fatal cylinder explosions in the city. Fearing a continuation of the crackdown, many bus and minibus operators especially of the antiquated ones and almost all human haulers stayed off the street on previous day (02/09/08).The above is the factual story of the rearrangement of the capital city's bus routes, impact and the overlapping decisions taken twice within less than weeks by the same authorities
In the Home Adviser's meeting on traffic and related issues on 16.10.08, it was also decided that Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) will initiate all other necessary measures and take effective actions to bring discipline regarding parking of vehicles, especially in Motijheel, Gulshan, Banani, New Market, Dhanmondi and other important areas. It was revealed in the meeting that as many as 65 traffic points have been turned into 'traffic hazards points' by unscrupulous bus operators and others almost round the clock and, as such, traffic police personnel will remain stationed on each of the 65 points to help ease the traffic congestions.
After the meeting, the Home Secretary while talking to the print and electronic media said that police officials from the inspector to Additional Deputy Police Commissioner level will remain on the Dhaka streets from 8.30 am to 10 am and 4.30 pm to 8.30 pm every day to manage and control traffic.
He further said that DMP has been instructed to take appropriate, instant and effective action to keep the Dhaka streets free from illegal parking of vehicles, stocking ordumping of construction materials on the pavements and roadsides, dropping and picking passengers by bus operators unscrupulously from non-designated points on the streets/roads.
The Home Secretary added that DMP has been instructed to pinpoint 269 parking areas in the city streets which will include Motijheel CA and other important busy areas. The Communications Secretary (recently transferred) after coming out from the meeting said that the government is taking steps to import 200 buses in addition to existing 300 owned by BRTC. He added that government will prepare the parking policy within one month to ease traffic jams. A few weeks back, he made a bold declaration that the government will start setting up underground railway system in the Dhaka city. The problem with him is that he did not collect facts correctly and he did hardly feel any urgency for appropriate information or felt the necessity to collect facts and figures that out of total buses owned by BRTC, as many as 171 buses are out of order for long and only 150 BRTC buses are in operation at present. He was not also aware that an agreement was signed between the communications ministry of immediate past political government and the Bangladesh Sarak Paribahan Malik Oikya Perishad, to withdraw 100 BRTC buses from city roads. BRTC was also compelled to sign this unprecedented, illegal and anti-people agreement as the private transport owners and workers threatened to enforce 'non stop' strike unless BRTC suspend operating its buses on Dhaka city streets and interdistrict roads.
Some 13 years back, the then prime Minister, Begum Khaleda Zia in a meeting of the senior police officers held on 25 July 1995, very specifically issued directives to take immediate and effective measures to reduce and ease the traffic congestions in the city of Dhaka.
After about six years of that instruction, the same Prime Minister (Khaleda Zia) elected afresh, within two weeks of forming her new cabinet, (October 2001) had issued similar but specific instructions to the city corporation authorities to take necessary and effective steps to resolve traffic congestions of Dhaka city, make it environment free from environmental hazards, clean and habitable within the shortest possible time. Besides, the Prime Minister had a number of meetings with DCC authorities, DMP, LGRD & C high officials and other stakeholders and urged all for taking appropriate actions for overcoming traffic hazards as early as possible. Unfortunately, none of those directives from chief executive of the country brought any positive improvement whatsoever on the traffic sceneo of Dhaka City. Rather, with the passage of time, the traffic tangles were verywhere in the country and Dhaka city in particular, seriously deteriorated, especially in recent months, very fast as if in geometrical progression.
In the last one decade and a half, dozens of seminars, workshops, round tables, TV- talks, human chains and many other costly discussions, took place on traffic issues and tonnes of resolutions, recommendations, suggestions, advices etc poured in towards addressing the ever-increasing gridlock resulting in stuck-up commuters for hours, every time, every day .But due to lack of appropriate understanding of the traffic related issues and commitment on the part of government and non-pragmatic and non-implementable policy decisions of the authorities concerned and donor agencies as well naked negligence of follow-up actions from actors concerned, the traffic congestion issues have become more complicated, and has seriously deteriorated to a point of almost no return. Side by side, ' The result is the present horrendous traffic congestions in all the parts of Dhaka city, be it posh areas like Gulshan, Banani, Dhanmondi or business areas like Motijheel, Kawran bazaar or Mouchak-Rampura, New Market or Dilkusha. During the entire period of immediate past BNP government, the Communications Minister (2001-2006) was busy dreaming and planning to introduce magnetic train service between Dhaka and Chittagong, underground circular road, 30-km elevated Expressway with fund from Thai government of Thaksin Shinwatra, mono-rail system and many other airy programs, etc for the capital city of Dhaka, neglecting the overall traffic issues in totality, which were causing untold miseries to the city-dwellers almost 24 hours a day.
The writer is a former Secretary to the Government of Bangladesh. He can reached at email: karar.hassan@gmail.com