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Clogged arteries

MadanShahu
New roads, waterway, railway, whatever, the city of Dhaka needs some immediate relief from the excruciating pain it suffers due to jamming of its arteries. Let the citizens see some effective solutions to the strangulating ailment while celebrating its 400 years as a capital.
AFTER years of expressing concern over the mounting problem of traffic indiscipline and jam through a series of seminars and media blowups, the situation on Dhaka streets has only worsened, to the dismay of the suffering public. Observance of scores of traffic weeks has simply failed to cause any dent in the prevailing impasse.
Meanwhile, a good number of vehicles are joining the existing fleet on the roads while few are discarded, and no new road space could be created to provide them passage. Apparently, things do not bode well -- leading to further congestion of traffic.
Roads in a city are like arteries in a body, which keep it alive by allowing unabated flow of necessary fluids. If the arteries of a city are gradually congested and chocked, then how can that habitat survive? Are we heading for such a conclusion, ultimately? These questions perturb the mind more now because this year we are in the thick of celebrations of capital Dhaka's 400 years.
We celebrate the city's past and present (!), cherishing to live in its future. Its past 400 years inspire us to wish it many more hundreds of years of life. But have we
availed the ways and means for this? First, have we ever cared for its existing waterfront - the Buriganga? For a constantly growing capital city of a small but populous country, the river that provides it the much needed waterfront should have been widened by excavation, not narrowed down by greedy encroachment.
Second, have we cared to leave adequate main road space in between blocks while expanding horizontally? The blocks will gradually extend vertically entailing increased movement of men and material, which only sufficient road space and not narrow passages can facilitate.
Third, have we cared to ever follow the building codes while constructing a multi-storey building or whatever? The building codes stipulate a free space on all sides of the built area of up to 40% of the plot measurement, among other things. Even this is not apparent in our building "boom," not to speak of "other things." And there are many "other things" mandatory for keeping a habitat liveable, but nobody is prodding us to abide by them.
Coming back to the point of the arteries of a city - - its roads - - that are supposed to keep the traffic flowing for its survival. Dhaka city has much less than the required road space in the first place. And
this imbalance is gradually increasing in Ilie face of the indiscriminate construction spree without leaving any provision open for laying adequately wide roads. 1 Yaffle is brimming on the existing roads, which, in consequence, stalls its very movement.
The situation is worsened when a considerable portion of the roads is occupied, often at places more titan 50% of the width, by parked vehicles -- creating virtual clots. These clots might cause thrombosis some day if not removed soon. To relieve the strained arteries some bypasses might be needed.
Well, it is easy to suggest but hard to get done, it is hard to carve out a thoroughfare through huddled up localities. There have been a hundred and one suggestions for flyovers, circular railway, circular waterway, metro, even overhead monorail. Most of us do not know what the authorities concerned are contemplating. But of late, talk of metro is more in the air. Whether it will be hard or not too hard to make it a reality, only time can tell.
Meanwhile, we have some reasons for feeling dismayed. A circular water route around the capital was opened to public in the recent past, but didn't remain operative for long. In fact, nothing was heard of it after the trial runs. Perhaps it lacked judicious and proper planning in the first place, and was rather started on a whim. Not long ago, the road linking Gulistan-Fulbaria (west ofBangabhaban) and the road off Hatkhola towards Jatrabari (east of Rajdhani Market) were cordoned off from traffic for construction of the Gulistan-Jatrabari flyover.
After quite a considerable time the machines and materials brought for the project were removed and the roads reopened to traffic. Perhaps another instance of whim taking the place of planning. It is really hard to accept such a trial and error approach to public (in) convenience.
Whatever, the capital city needs an immediate solution to its mounting traffic indiscipline and traffic jam problem. Whether it's circular water or road route or underground metro, something must be physically here soon to ease the clogging of its arteries. If we really think that circular water way is an answer, and if we mean it, then we should be sincere about the detailed feasibility study and a
proper design. We shall have to draw a budget and fix a time for its implementation because, although we have rivers all around Dhaka, they are not streamlined for utilisation.
It would be simply unique to have a waterfront all around the capital city. And for that the water bodies have to be linked and dredged where necessary, and cleared of encroachments first. Then there should be a circular road all along the bank, with pontoons at station points and necessary link roads with the existing city network.
The task is not easy but, of course, feasible. And when implemented properly it will yield revenue, not only from regular commuters but also from tour-
ists. Only, we shall have to be sincere with implementation of all its components.
Next, if we think flyovers and metro are proper answers to the problem, we must be serious about their feasibility and budget before embarking upon either one, because these are very hard tasks, perhaps harder than other options. Erection of flyovers will entail requisition of land, compensating the possessors, and clearing the route. This will take considerable time. The construction, obviously, will not be an overnight affair.
Building a metro may be the most expensive and time consuming of the solutions. Construction of an underground rail route covering whole city is likely to cause more public inconvenience than the construction of flyovers will. This will entail extensive digging area by area and above-ground blockage for quite some time. However, most cities of the world have metros, so why can'twe?
Anyway, what if we think of a surface peripheral railway running beside the proposed circular road along the waterway round the city? It may not be as hard and costly to build as other facilities, and can provide some ease to commuters.
New roads, waterway, railway, whatever, the city of Dhaka needs some immediate relief from the excruciating pain it suffers due to jamming of its arteries. Let the citizens see some effective solutions to the strangulating ailment while celebrating its 400 years as a capital.
Madan Shahu is a Senior Assistant Editor of The Daily Star.