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A commuters' nightmare

The Bangla Motor 'VIP crossing' often' takes 3-4 signal clearances, each about 10 minutes, every time to cross the point.

CITY CORRESPONDENT
"If you are a resident of New Eskaton in Maghbazar and have a job to do across the Bangla Motor crossing you must start at least one hour early or miss your appointment."
"For nobody knows how long would it take to cross the crucial crossing point," quipped Mamun, a Tongi Diversion Road tenant who works for a private firm near the Eastern Plaza shopping mall.
"I must shift to Hatirpool area or risk losing my job," he added with a disgust.
Shahidullah of Dilu Road, New Eskaton believes his mother died because the ambulance was stuck at the
crossing for more than half an hour.
"Doctors said she could have been saved if we had reached DMCH (Dhaka Medical College Hospital) twenty minutes after the heart attack," he said bursting into tears.
The locals now term the 'cursed' point as 'VIP crossing.'
It takes 3-4 signal clearances, each about 10 minutes, every time to cross the point.
"Sometimes I get off the rickshaw and start walking to save time," said Mamun, "but it again puts my life in danger."
As there is no footbridge, the pedestrians sardine the mouth of the crossing point. They themselves halt the speeding vehicles to cross the road often risking
their lives.
"They have all their attention to save time of the VIPs but little time to put up a footbridge for the ordinary people," Mamun said pointing at the indifference of the city fathers.
Everyday, the Mymensingh Road renamed as Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue witnesses at least a hundred or so 'VIP movements.' The President and the Prime Minister take the route more than once every week. Foreign dignitaries, too prefer this road because there is no traffic snarl-up.
There is an underpass near the Sonargaon Hotel about a kilometre from Bangla Motor crossing but no such arrangement at this crucial point.
"We had planned to set up a footbridge at Bangla Motor last year but eventually abandoned it for lack of landing space," said a DCC (Dhaka City Corporation) official.
However, we are looking for an alternative way out, he said, without elaborating.
Besides snarl-up, buses and minibuses stop near the traffic signals on and off to pickup wayside passengers under the very nose of the traffic police.
Rickshaws loiter near the petrol pump and violate traffic rules adding to the chaotic situation. Pedestrians are often seen having hot exchanges with the on-duty ansars and traffic officials but to little remedy or relief.