Keeping the roads usable

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IT is apparent that the worsening traffic jams in Dhaka have a close relationship with the crumbling road conditions in many parts of the city. Roads in many areas of Dhaka city have broken down. The roads in their present conditions slow down all types of vehicles.
Faster movement of vehicles is impossible over roads with such poor surfaces. Traffic jams or exasperating slow downs become inevitable in such roads where speed of movement must be much reduced due to road conditions. From slower moving rickshaws and push carts to private cars and buses, all are required to move very slowly over pot-holed roads. Sometimes, traffic has to move at snail's pace to get around the bigger holes and even ditches on roads.
The worn-out roads are not only causing traffic jams but these also pose serious accident hazards. Thus, extensive repairing of the roads awaits as a major precondition to be fulfilled for the overall improvement of Dhaka's traffic management.
There exists presently no coordination mechanism between different utility agencies as these bodies resort to frequent digging of roads. For instance, the Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Ltd. (BTCL) may dig up an important road for laying underground cables for a digital telephone network. Soon after the completion of such a project and the repaving of the road, the same road sections could be dug up once again for laying sewer lines or electricity cables. Apart from lack of coordination, the projects are not completed swiftly as these should be. All sorts of debris remain scattered on roads even after the completion of the works that narrow down road spaces and create obstructions for the traffic.
Someone should keep watch at the work sites to keep the roads tidy so that reasonable spaces remain for traffic flow even as the works progress. A coordination mechanism must be set up so that repeated diggings of the roads become unnecessary and several projects can be undertaken and completed at one go.

Sajib Chowdhiry
Srestha View
Shantinagar, Dhaka