Editorial
Traffic system in a shambles
Take in hand massive moderisation programme
IT is unbelievable but true that the traffic control system and the main aid that is supposed to help in the efficient movement of traffic on the streets of Dhaka, the traffic signals, are really a part of the problem, rather than being a solution.
As it is, Dhaka does not have the adequate road network capable to serve a metropolitan city, and whatever little there is, is not being fully utilized, those being kept under illegal occupation by roadside shops, dumped building materiel and illegally parked cars. Add to it the proclivity of the road users, whether pedestrians or rickshaws or other mechanical transports, to disregard the simple rules of the road that makes the use of roads a hazardous proposition all round.
Why should the police or the municipal corporation spend money on traffic lights when, even on the major roads, it is the policeman who is seen desperately flailing his arms to control the movement of vehicles most of the time, sometimes coming on the middle of the road to stop a car that appears to care two hoots for his signal, putting the cops life at risk in the process.
Some drivers do jump the red light, but the fact that it is the policemen and not the lights that control the flow of vehicles most of the time, most drivers have grown accustomed to following the former without really caring whether the light is green or red. Granted that on occasions the use of the traffic lights may have to be temporarily dispensed with for the overall management of vehicular flow at a particular point in time, but that has unfortunately come to be the rule rather than the exception.
One wonders whether we realise the immense loss the country has to suffer due to slow moving traffic and vehicle snarl ups. There is loss in gas and petrol not to speak of the loss in man-hour as well as the impact on the environment.
That the government should immediately formulate a comprehensive plan to address the traffic problems needs hardly be emphasised. The plan must include establishing an efficient network of roads in Dhaka city and surrounding, as well as modernising the system in totality. There is also the urgent requirement for higher training of those managing the traffic system, including the cops on the ground.
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