& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Control the chaos and confusion

Mohammad Amjad Hossain
TIME is an important factor in life.
Since I arrived in Dhaka I have been facing serious problems in travelling in the city because of the severe traffic jams. This was not the case in the recent past I have been spending one to two hours, either in a car or a bus, before reaching the destination. These hours are wasted.
Being a Least Developed Country, Bangladesh depends on foreign investments for economic development. Under the existing archaic traffic system, a foreign investor and spends two hours on the road to reach the Export Promotion Bureau or Board of Investment at Motijheel. The impression he carries back will not be congenial for investment. The communication network plays a vital role in the business sector. If that system is disrupted, business will be hampered.
The present anarchic communication ■ system in the city has been causing frustra-
xititi in.,the,,cozens, apart,.from wasting , valuable time. The government should pay serious attention to this problem to improve the image of the country. As of now, the government is apathetic to the existing situation.
There are traffic laws in the country. Traffic light posts are installed at different points. Traffic lights are working. At the same time, traffic police are also posted. It is understandable that traffic lights don't work properly because of severe load shedding in the city. When traffic lights are off, traffic police should take care of the movement of the vehicles manually, for which they need proper training.
In the first place, all vehicles should follow traffic lights assiduously. If the traffic is controlled manually, why take the trouble of installing traffic light posts that cause unnecessary expenses from the exchequer?
On the other hand, drivers of all vehicles who enter the cantonment area follow traffic lights. Why don't these
drivers follow the same rule in the other parts of the city? It seems that two traffic rules exist in the same city.
As there is no scope for expansion of roads, flyovers at important junctions, for example Gabtoli and Jatrabari, could be constructed to ease the load of vehicles.
According to one estimate, nearly one hundred thousand people pass through Jatrabari everyday. Similarly, hundreds of
vehicles from the southern part of Bangladesh, and also some from India, are arriving at Gabtoli. Traffic jam at these two important junctions cause causing frustration and uneasiness among the travellers.
I recall the efforts made during the BNP rule to phase out unfit vehicles from the roads. To my utter surprise, many old and worn-out vehicles, which cause environ-
mental pollution, are still seen on the roads. They are contributing to the increase of emission, apart from increasing traffic volume. The government should strictly consider phasing out vehicles that are more than 15 years old.
In this context, I would like to point out that the government of West Bengal has begun phasing out 15 years old ~Vfehicle&‘by the order of the High Court. A similar exercise needs to be carried out in Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, and Rajshahi to improve the quality of the environment.
Subway is another option for controlling anarchic traffic. It could be constructed, if feasible, from the airport to Motijheel and from Motijheel to Gabtoli, connecting residential areas to the Secretariat. One week back I read an article in a Bengali daily where the writer gives negative opinions about metro stations, saying that it was a losing concern in Kolkata. 1 have the experience of travelling by metro rail in London and many parts of US, but I have never heard that metro rail was a losing concern.
Many people, including motorists, are availing of the facilities in metro rails. Motorists leave their cars at metro parking lot, which helps in reducing pressure on the roads. Metro- rails, on the other hand, earn money from rail and parking tickets. If the management could plan
and implement the project relating to metro-rail, there is no question of losing. It is a profitable venture indeed.
It is suggested that traffic laws should be applied to all drivers of all vehicles. There is no point in making laws unless they are implemented. A driver who violates traffic rules three times should have his driving license cancelled.
b Drivers shoulcMpay 'a hefty penalty under traffic laws. If necessary, traffic laws should be revised to cope with the existing situation in the country. During office hours, no one should be permitted to drive a car with a single passenger — like in Singapore — to ease traffic jam.
At one or two locations "warning signs" for pedestrians to use foot over-bridges came to my notice. Foot over-bridges are not properly utilised by pedestrians. This is highly objectionable and should be subjected to penalty. Traffic weeks may be conducted for bringing traffic laws to the knowledge of pedestrians and drivers of all vehicles.
In view of the persistent traffic jams, the government should consider banning import of vehicles of any type for a period of ten years. These are the few suggestions to improve the anarchic traffic system.
Mohammad Amjad Hossain is a former Bangladesh diplomat and past President of Nova Toastmasters International Club.