Men have stepped on the moon. Now they are going from one place to another within few hours. Bangladeshis can reach New Delhi from Dhaka in two and half hours, can reach Bangkok, Singapore or Kuala Lumpur in three or half hours .But the citizens of Dhaka (sometimes) cannot reach to Motijheel from Uttara by that time. Hours after hours they have to remain stranded in grid locks. Traffic jam has turned daily trips into nightmares. The business community inevitably suffers for the constant waste of its most precious resource of time. Others commuters complain of being stuck in jam for hours an end, while residents breathe in a lot more lead and almost 10 percent of its population seeks medical treatment each year for air pollution related respiratory illnesses.
If there are few hours of rain many roads get inundated making the life miserable for citizen. The mega city Dhaka has turned into concrete jungle where every day people losing several work hours on the road, business and commerce are suffering, relatives finding it extremely difficult in moving emergency patients and people are getting more and more unsocial as moving from one place to other to make social calls have become extremely difficult after daily office works. Day by day problem is getting bigger and more complex and may soon go beyond control.
It is not that government has completely kept its fingers crossed. Fly overs, elevated express highway, metro rail initiatives have been adopted, some of these are already at different stages of implementation. Government has also taken initiative to free the four rivers –Buriganga, Sitalakkhya, Turag and Balu from illegal occupation and also rediscover several canals and waterways which once used to criss cross the beautiful Dhaka. But all these have many challenges to tide over and take time, money and consistent endeavor of a committed government. But why not try to reduce pressure of population from the poor old Dhaka city? Why not major attention can be taken away from the heart of Dhaka city to surrounding suburbs, districts like Gazipur, Narayanganj, Munshiganj, Keraniganj and Narshindgi?
Dhaka really cannot hold the stress on 14-15 million people and still growing. The utility services Gas, Electricity, Water supply, sanitation cannot withstand the enormous demand supply imbalance. Dhaka desperately needs metropolis governance, unitary command and control over all aspects –utility, transport, law & order etc. Several organization working under different control with little or no co-ordination among them are adding to the problem.
This writer worked as Energy Professional in Bangladesh for over three decades from late 1970s to mid-2000. The once lovely busy bustling Dhaka city started growing to uncontrolled controlled concrete mess when I left Bangladesh in 2005. Over the last 10 years had opportunity to travel across many cities of South Asia, Central Asia, Middle East, Australia and North America. We have seen how cities like Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, and Dubai have addressed their city development challenges. We have also witnessed similar messy situation in New Delhi, Jakarta and Kabul. From our
experience we can make some suggestions which we believe can be useful if Government can sincerely consider.
Dhaka Has Unique Advantage.
Dhaka has unique advantage in the sense that it is surrounded by four rivers – Buriganga, Sitalakhya, Buri and Turag. Many major cities of the world have utilized the rivers adjacent to the city as their major means of communication and economic activities. But unfortunately for lack of proper Government control and Initiatives Rivers have not only become polluted but river banks have gone under illegal occupation of land grabbers. Government initiatives and citizens movement must go hands in hand in recovering these rivers and making these pollution free through pragmatic projects implementation. City Circular River way can add the most effective flexibility in easing grid locks and supplement other initiatives like Flyover, Elevated Express Highways and Metro Rail. Extensive capital dredging of the rivers and stopping illegal dumping of chemicals and municipal wastes into rivers can bring the rivers back to original shape in two to three years. Rediscovering major canals and re-digging these to original shape can solve water logging. Setting up of some more water treatment facilities of the river water and recycled water treatment adopting Advanced Water treatment technology (reverse osmosis) can resolve water supply and sanitation issues.
Why Not Make Central Dhaka Free?
We can identify few choke points of Grid Locks in Dhaka. These are at Kakoli intersection, Banani, Gulshan Area, Mohakhali, PM Office, Dhanmondi R/A, Firm Gate, Asad Gate, Shahbagh Avenue, Gulistan area. Some operational flyovers have failed to address the traffic jam in these choke points. The growth of many different modes of transports, smaller vehicles, many old outdated transports have over grown the city roads. Location of many installations at the heart of the city and mushrooming of schools, universities, clinics, RMG factories have created massive congestions in many areas especially in Motijheel, Dhamondi, Malibagh, Karwan Bazar and Gulshan- Banani areas. Unless most of these are relocated in phases from city centres whatever initiaves government has taken so far will sooner or later will prove ineffective.
Suggestions:
• We suggest relocating Peelkhana BGB HQ to Dhaka City Suburb in Gazipur or any other suitable place. Also suggest moving out all schools, universities, clinics and commercial offices in Dhanomndi, Kolabagan, Azimpur areas inside Peelkhana open space. The tanner factory in the area is already under relocation.
• Relocate Central Secretariat to Chadrima Udyan (Under Process). But it must be planned in such a way that this location in 15-20 years does not create new choke point.
• Relocate PMO from present location to the PM Residence cum office.
• Leaving historic Buildings of Dhaka University, BUET, Dhaka Medical College take most of the academic activities of these institutions in our campus. Western Universities do not have residential halls. It is only in Bangladesh and few others under developed countries Universities have residential halls.
• Old Airport area must be made available for relocating schools, Universities, Clinics and Business offices now have mushroomed in Banani and Gulshan Areas. We would further suggest that there must be initiatives for relocating Army HQ to Gazipur. Leaving the residential accommodations there all army installations can move out in phases.
• Relocate all RMG factories to properly built RMG villages outside the city . This action alone will take away at least 10-15 lakhs people linked with RMG trade making utility services stress free.
• Kawran Bazar Fish Market and Whole Sale Market must be relocated and a multistoried parking facility set up there.
• Bangladesh must have a modern international Airport as Bangladesh is located in the cusp of Atlantic and Pacific Route , A properly constructed modern Airport like Dubai , Singapore and Bangkok will take Bangladesh one step beyond imagination.
We have also identified few other actions which can improve the traffic congestion.
I. Drivers don’t comply with traffic rules. There must be training done and refutations implemented.
II. Allegations of police support to makeshift shops on footpaths and street sidelines and illegal automobile and rickshaw parking, which occupy more than a third of the streets. This must be policed and stopped.
III. Some police officers are busy for extracting money for allowing illegal parking. Must come to a full stop.
IV. Lack of automatic traffic signals, slow-moving illegal rickshaws and rail crossings are also causing serious traffic jam. Remedial actions must be taken soon.
Traffic jam stops our normal course of life. At office time it is painful to mention that the foreigners hesitate to invest in our country for traffic jam. It is very shameful for us. In this way it defames our prestige to the foreigners. Above all traffic jam always pollutes our environment. Obnoxious smell emits form standing vehicles.
The following remedial measures can be adopted for eliminating the traffic jam:
I. Stricter laws need to be enforced to maintain discipline.
II. The number of mobile courts and checkpoints should be increased
III. Harsh punishment must be imposed on those law enforcing members who does not carry out their duty.
IV. The signal post should be constructed as early as possible.
V. The awareness campaign should be launched which will feature community level meetings, opinion pools, roadside banners, leaflets and posters, mass media advertisement and public announcement to build awareness about making road free from rickshaws.
VI. As Chemical Engineer we know that the slowest step in a chain reaction determine its pace. Creating alternative employment opportunities for Rickshaw pullers rickshaws can be gradually phased out.
Rickshaws may be banned from the roads such as Rokeya Sarani-Mirpur 10-Farmgate, Pragati Sarani-Baridhara-Badda-Mouchak, New Eskaton Road-Banglamotor-Mouchak-Rajarbagh Crossing and Technical crossing-Mirpur-1-Mipur 2 and Azimpur to Tikatauli, Purana Purana Paltan to Sadarghat via North-South road also.
VII. According to Dhaka City Corporation (DCC), 77,000 rickshaws and 10,000 vans are registered but about three lakh rickshaws ply the streets. So the authorities need to evict illegal rickshaws.
VIII. No more CNG three wheelers or CNG driven smaller vehicles should be allowed in Dhaka City. Articulated modern NGV buses should rather replace the CNG driven smaller vehicles.
We know the challenges are enormous. But to protect our Dhaka city for our posterity we must have political consensus and citizens unity. Dhaka in 2020s must not look like Business as usual. All citizens must also do their bit to make Dhaka livable. As suggested recovering rivers and making these navigable all season, setting up effective city circular river, road and railway communication , relocating major government installations and commercial organizations from city centres and residential areas must start to make Dhaka more livable city. The implementation of Padma Bridge will open avenues for taking Dhaka on the other side of Padma. We hope Government initiates a master plan for the area and take many major installations away from Dhaka metropolis making Dhaka breadth freely. Many of the actions suggested will be resisted by vested quarters. But government of the people must move with the people and for the people.
