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Jam eases in capital

Staff Correspondent
After two days of severe gridlocks, Dhaka city dwellers yesterday had relatively easier journeys.
It took less times for commuters on major routes to reach their destinations.
Mohammad Russel, who drives a bus between Mirpur and Gulistan, said, "Traffic jams were unbearable yesterday (Wednesday] and on Tuesday.
"But it took around two hours less to complete eight trips today [yesterday] from what I needed on yesterday [Wednesday],” he added.
His shift starts at 6:00am and ends at 11:00pm.
On Wednesday, traffic in some parts of the city was at its worst in recent weeks and it happened due to the prime minister's visit to Abahani playground in Dhanmondi, traffic police officials claimed.
Vehicles of the PM's motorcade were supposed to be parked on the ground, but it did not happen. They were on the road, making the street off-limits to other vehicles for
quite a longtime, they said.
The spillover created a mess in thoroughfares of the city.
However, when our reporters and photographers visited Dhanmondi, Mohammadpur, Farmgate, Karwan Bazar, New Market and Jatiya Press Club areas in the capital yesterday, they found somewhat smoother traffic flow even during rush hours.
Afaz Uddin, a street vendor at Dhanmondi, yesterday said he saw long tailbacks over the previous two days on the bridge that connects Road-32 and Abdus Samad Azad Road, especially during school runs.
"But traffic has eased today [yesterday], "he said.
This paper contacted experts to identify the causes of the gridlocks in the capital.
Plying of unfit vehicles that often break down creating bottlenecks, and unskilled people driving vehicles are two of the reasons for traffic jams, said Shamsul Hoque, former director of Accident Research Institute (ARI) of Bangladesh University of Engineering Technology.
Unplanned road network is another major cause for the congestions in the capital, he added.
Joint Commissioner (traffic) Mosleh Uddin of Dhaka Metropolitan Police said sometimes gridlocks turn severe as a huge number of vehicles simultaneously get on tire streets on certain days during rush hours.
Around 300 traffic sergeants would join the DMP soon and this might be
helpful in enforcing traffic laws more effectively, he added.
Around 25 percent of a city's total area is supposed to be kept aside for roads and footpaths. But in Dhaka city, only eight percent has been left for this, Shamsul Hoque said.
Terming the city's traffic "horrible and an alarming issue”, the parliamentary standing committee on the home ministry on Wednesday formed a sub-committee to find ways to address this issue
According to Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, there are over 22 lakh registered vehicles, including buses, minibuses, cars, CNG-run autorickshaws, lorries and pickups in the country. Of them, more than 9 lakh run in Dhaka.