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Frequent traffic jam at Paribagh intersection

City Correspondent
It was not even a working day. Just before Jumma prayers last Friday, lines of vehicles coming from Elephant road and Dhaka University inched toward the Paribagh mosque.
Rows of cars parked on both sides of the street near the mosque barred them from moving ahead any further. In the meantime, more cars, autorickshaws, rickshaws gathered round from the nearby streets creating a traffic mess in the intersection.
As no traffic police officer was around to untangle the mess, a middle-aged man -- sweaty and agitated -- got off his car to manage the situation. It was not before another 15 minutes or so when the traffic in the street was eased.
"This happens almost everyday," the middle-aged man told this correspondent, a resident of Elephant road. "This point is such an important junction with so many streets joining together. But I rarely see any traffic men here to manage the traffic"
Paribagh residents say the streets in the area become exasperatingly busy even in weekends.
"There are a number of residential complexes on the four narrow streets. Besides, there is a
mosque at the critical point of the intersection. So the place almost always remains crowded with vehicles constantly flocking in," said Asad Hossain, a Paribagh resident
No wonder the street adjacent to the Paribagh mosque has always been a hotspot of traffic congestions as the streets in the region are a classic example of mindless urban planning.
Moreover, these busy streets have their exit points through the Paribagh intersection.
There is a road trailing from the east, near the Hotel Sheraton. Then there is the other street coming from the Bangabandhu Medical College I lospital, closely followed byroads coming from the Dhaka University, Elephant Road, Hatirpul, Central Road and Dhaninondi.
All forms of vehicles -- large and small, motorised and non-motorised - from all these places meet each other in a couple of junctions in Paribagh. And the confrontation is not always pleasant for the motorists or commuters.
"As all the vehicles gather together on the street near the mosque, there is usually a traffic congestion," said Kamal Ahmed, a resident of Paribagh. "Sometimes it takes more than half an hour to reach elephant road from here, with a bulk of the time spent at Paribagh crossing."
Pedestrains are also affected by these traffic congestions, locals alleged.
"The streets are not very wide. So, sometimes when the traffic gets too messy there is barely any space for pedestrians to squeeze past the stranded vehicles," said Kamal Ahmed.
According to Waseem Khan, an urban architect and Paribagh resident, apathy and ill planning should be blamed for the traffic situation in Paribagh.
“Many cars enter the street from the wrong side. These cars mosdy belong to the residential complexes in that street," he said, "by entering the oneway street from the wrong direction they contribute to major a traffic congestions in ; the area".
"This just makes things more chaotic,” remarked Khan.
Paribagh residents believe that die situation can be somewhat improved if the authorities consider deploying some traffic officers immediately at the points.
"The traffic police department should post at least a pair of traffic policemen at the Paribagh intersection to reduce traffic jam. This will help ease the traffic jams in the adjacent streets," said Sirajul Islam, a resident of Paribagh.
"Hope the authorities concerned will look into the matter with a sense of urgency", he added.
"We [Paribagh residents) have already tried to attract the attention of the authorities to ease the traffic situation in the area. I lowever, virtually nothing has been done yet as they [authorities) continue to ignore oiir problems," said Islam.