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Posh Gulshan plagued with traffic jam

Shariful Islam
The posh residential area Gulshan has lost its serenity and tranquillity and turned into a commercial hub with numerous private vehicles buzzing on the roads, lanes and bylanes, which are also often plagued with severe traffic congestion.
Gulshan was one of the three model residential areas of the government but is on the verge of losing the status as many a number of business houses have relocated their businesses here.
The rise in commercial buildings has resulted in a huge increase in human and car population in Gulshan and Banani in recent years, but no tangible steps were taken to increase the number of roads.
Multi-storey commercial buildings, shopping malls and private universities and schools in the areas lack adequate carparks resulting in the traffic congestion.
" My son who works for a private mobile operator company in Gulshan-1 now goes to his office on foot as he can go there from Banani much earlier than by his car or a rickshaw,* says Banani resident Rafiqul Islam.
"During rush hours it takes him more than an hour to go to his office by private car,* he adds.
Rafiqul says the entire area turns relatively calm on Fridays 2
when most of the business centres, private universities and schools remain closed.
Taxicabs and CNG-run auto-rickshaws charge at least Tk 30 more to go to Gulshan and Banani from elsewhere due to peak hour traffic congestion.
’Usually a CNG-metre shows a bill of Tk 80-90 when I go to my Gulshan office. But during rush hours I never get a CNG autorickshaw if I don't agree to pay the driver over Tk 120," says Jigatola resident Golam Rabbani, who works in a private firm at Gulshan-2.
Traffic policemen observe lack of carparks in many multi-storey commercial installations is a major reason for the nagging traffic congestion.
Chairman of Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) Safiqul Islam said a section of people in the private sector are constructing buildings flouting the Rajuk approved plan for carparks.
He however could not say instantly how many buildings or high-riseshave flouted parkingrules.
Rajuk has designated inspectors for all areas in the capital to inspect whether the buildings are being constructed as per the rules, but the owners somehow manage to bypass the inspection and the law.
Finding inadequate parking space in the buildings, car owners and drivers park their vehicles on the nearest roads.
During a visit to Banani and Gulshan, it was found that a large number of cars are parked on the roads in front of commercial buildings, private universities, schools
and shopping malls.
Kemal Ataturk Avenue where many multi-storey buildings and private universities are situated is one of the most affected areas. "The area is in a mess when students come to their universities in private cars," says Jahangir, a security guard of a multi-storey building on Kamal Ataturk Avenue.
"I have locked in altercation five times today with the drivers since I joined the duty two hours back. Drivers, mostly of influential people, even threaten us with taking action against us if we tend to do anything," said a sergeant on duty in Gulshan-1 on Saturday afternoon.
Another traffic sergeant, Prashanta Chakma, posted at Gulshan-2 intersection, said the highest number of cases filed in Gulshan are for unauthorised parking.
He said when they start writing case slips from one end, drivers on the other end drive away and again park vehicles in places where sergeants are not on hand.