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BASHUNDHARA CITY

Parking slots go unused, illegal parking causes jams

Faizul Khan Tanim
Illegal parking in front of the newly constructed plush shopping mall Bashundhara City is causing severe traffic congestion in Panthapath and the crossing near the Hotel Sonargaon, a prominent intersection.
The Traffic department blames the authorities of the mall for the traffic congestion while the Bashundhara City authorities say that the mall is equipped with parking facilities of 1,200 vehicles at a time on two levels. Visitors, however, are reluctant to using the parking lot and find it comfortable to leave their vehicles along the road, causing the congestion.
Although the parking space is vast, private vehicles, taxicabs and CNG driven autorickshaws are regularly parked along the road in front of the mall one entire lane of the three lanes meant for smooth flow of traffic.
But visitors to the mall have a different story to tell. Shahana Ahmed, from Mirpur said: "We came a long way to watch a movie and on arrival could not find any parking space. We parked our vehicle at a friend's residence and walked back to the mall."
"On Fridays and other holidays the number of visitors are large and it is only then that one can face a problem in looking for parking space. Filling 1,200 parking allocations is no joke," said Senior General Manager (Admin, E & T, Security) Major Mohammed Zahidur Rahman (Retd).
Shamsuddin Ahmed,
Bashundhara City's senior executive director said: "To encourage parking in the lots, we reduced the fee from Tk 20 to 10 for unlimited hours of parking."
"We sent a letter to the Deputy Commissioner Traffic (DC North) March 19 explaining the traffic situation. We had requested them to bring wreckers to tow cars that are parked illegally. We cannot enforce laws, but the police can," he added .
The General Manager added that they had indicated to drivers that vehicles should be parked in
the allocated areas, but none responded positively. "We believe that guests do not want to park in the underground parking lot, so when 600 vehicles fill up the parking lot on the first level, they find it convenient to park along the road," he said.
According to a Dhaka Transport Coordination Board (DTCB) study, more than 10,000 vehicles ply through the Hotel Sonargaon intersection an hour. DTCB experts suggested that permission for the shopping complex should not be granted, but Rajuk thought otherwise.
When a few of the private vehicle drivers were quizzed, they said that they assume there is no free space available, and without caring to look, the cars are parked on the road. This reporter found when walking in front of the mall one afternoon, at least five to six private vehicles parked in front with the doors locked and no one inside.
"I travel along the Panthapath Road regularly in my vehicle. A few months back, it took me only half an hour to get across, but now I spend 45 minutes to an hour," said Tajul Islam, a Green Road resident.
Tajul added that the afternoon and evening hours are the worst when traffic congestion is high. He said that the timings to office and back are bad and picking his kid up from school in the intense heat adds to the misery.
When the Deputy Commissioner (DC) Traffic North Firoz Al Mujahid Khan was contacted, he said traffic police on that road quite often issue tickets for illegal parking. He said another reason for traffic jams in that area is because there is no place or gap for vehicles to turn in.
Police personnel in yellow jackets, who ensure smooth traffic flow are available in the area during rush hours.
He also said that when three or four vehicles are on the ramp to drop passengers, the specific area is blocked and vehicles then queue up along the road to the entrance to the mall.
"We did not know about the reduction in parking fees. The mall authorities should widely publicise that the fees have been brought down to Tk 10 from Tk. 20. This too, might be an incentive for visitors to use the parking lot. Traffic congestion at the Hotel Sonargaon intersection causes unnecessary headaches for all," said Firoz Al Mujahid.
He also said that the mall should have had two specific lanes, one to enter and the other to exit.
One the other hand, the Bashundhara City authorities showed a count of around 960 vehicles that were parked in the lot on May 13 (Friday) and 780 on Tuesday, May 10.
Bashundhara City was open to the public on October 4, 2004.