This has become a common feature almost every day that Dhaka city comes to a standstill induced by heavy traffic congestion. As a result, city dwellers have to spend much more time than earlier to move from one place to another mainly in downtown Dhaka.
Why has traffic congestion worsened in the city nowadays? The first and foremost reason is that people from different organizations, professional groups, political parties have taken to the streets to press their varied demands after the interim government took over the office on August 8.
These agitators usually block different key thoroughfares in various places like Shahbagh, Press Club, Farm Gate and Banglamotor through their sit-in programs every now and then. Even a few hundred protesters are seen blocking a main street, causing immense suffering to the daily commuters.
For instance, on Tuesday, Dhaka saw severe traffic jam especially around the University of Dhaka as thousands of people gathered at Suhrawardy Udyan to attend a rally organized by Olama Mashayekh Bangladesh. This has created long tailbacks and gridlock on major intersections like the Dhaka Elevated Expressway's exit ramp, Mogbazar, Farmgate, Nilkhet, Shahbagh, Karwan Bazar, Kakrail and Gulistan.
Another important factor is that though traffic police personnel have resumed their duties after a few days of work abstention when students were seen maintaining the traffic systems voluntarily across the country, they have remained out of gear. This has disrupted traffic control in different places of the city, keeping commuters stranded for hours in buses and other vehicles.
But traffic congestion is not something new for the Dhaka dwellers. The city which is the center for various government functions ranging from administrative to employment has been bearing the brunt of regular traffic jam for many years to the very nose of the concerned authorities who have until now taken little actions to ease this prolonged problem.
This hindrance in free movement of vehicles is set to deteriorate further in years to come with the increase of city population every day. According to a study, the current population of Dhaka estimated at over 20 million will increase by 55 percent in the next decade and a half. This will produce huge pressure on the entire traffic system with fear of making the city completely stagnant.
Interim government is trying to ease the city traffic congestion. Chief advisor Dr Muhammad Yunus recently issued a set of directives in a meeting between senior officials of Dhaka Metropolitan Police's traffic department and traffic management experts of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) to find a quick and effective way to resolve this protracted crisis.
But people in the know have long been in view for adopting some measures like the development of an effective public transportation system, restriction on private transportation modes and phasing out rickshaws, auto-rickshaws from the main streets and strict enforcement of traffic rules.
We urge the interim government not to allow protesting people to block the main streets and intersections in Dhaka city in order to prevent traffic congestion.
