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Focus on parking to ease gridlock

Communications to import290 buses for school-goers

Staff Correspondent
A national committee on traffic congestion reduction yesterday decided to increase the number of school buses and ensure proper use of parking space in Motijheel, Dilkusha and other areas to ease traffic in the capital.
The decisions were made during the 13th meeting of the committee formed to coordinate and monitor activities to reduce congestion with Communications Minister Obaidul Quader in the chair at the Sarak Bhaban. The deputy commissioner of Dhaka, the home secretary, the Roads Division secretary and representatives of the DCC and Rajuk were present at the meeting.
"It is not possible to ease traffic congestion overnight but we have made some specific decisions on short term basis," the minister said during the meeting.
It was decided at the meeting to make sure vehicles are parked in the correct places in front of buildings on both sides of the street stretching from Dilkusha to Paltan via Ittefaque, Bangladesh Bank and Dainik Bangla intersections.
The committee instructed Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) to free the parking spaces of different buildings of obstacles by February 18. It also instructed Rajuk to evict illegal structures, including shops, around Rajuk Bhaban itself in Motijheel.
Some of the 290 BRTC buses the government is going to import within a few months will be used for transporting schoolchildren to and from school to reduce congestion, the committee decided.
Parents and their school-
children will be able to use the bus, said the communications minister. He, however, did not mention the number of the buses to be used for this purpose.
“If necessary, I will go to schools to encourage students and their guardians, including those who have cars, to use the new BRTC buses,” said the minister.
In January last year, the government launched 14 BRTC buses for school students. Soon after the launch, it was discovered that the buses were hardly used. The parents seemed reluctant to use them.
The meeting also decided that cars going to Viqarunnisa Noon School on Baily Road to pick up students must park at the school's basement car park. The deputy commissioner of Dhaka was entrusted with the job to ensure within 15 days that the cars park there.
Manju Ara Begum, acting principal of the school, told The Daily Star, "Most parents do not want to park their cars in the basement as it requires a certain amount of charge for parking." She said the school is a double shift school and since many
cars are parked in front of the school a huge traffic jam remains all the time.
Minister Quader also asked Dhaka City Corporation to repair damaged fences on central reservations of streets between GPO and Banani Level Crossing via Jatiya Press Club, Shahbagh, Farmgate and Mohakhali within three months to force pedestrians use footbridges.
The committee decided to deploy mobile courts in the areas from the Jatiya Press Club to Banani via Shahbagh, Farmgate and Mohakhali so that pedestrians use the footbridges.
The committee also decided to evict in a month illegal occupiers of the Beribandh (flood protection embankment) Road and footpaths stretching from Sadarghat to Gabtoli.
The Roads and Highways Department will construct a U-loop near Amin Bazar Bridge on Gabtoli-Shirnirtek Road within March. No trucks will be allowed to park on the road. Dhaka Metropolitan Police will take steps in this regard, the committee decided.