Passport office, new roads, et cetera
Photo: Munir Uz Zaman/Drik News
WE have heard a lot about chasing the dalals (middlemen) from the premises of the passport offices in the country, especially the one in Dhaka, but to our mortification they exist with all the might. You go to Dhaka passport office at Agargaon, you carefully scan the premise, and seeing no one near the counter you quickly go there. But, like the vultures circling high above in a seemingly blue sky, they appear from nowhere and surround you. As you begin to feel your space narrowing dangerously you hear them saying…"sir, brother, uncle, I can get it done in three hours…in two hours…in four hours…genuine sir…no hassle…you just go home and relax"…and so on. This is exactly what happened to this writer on Monday morning at Agargaon. No matter how you try to look somber and obtrusively uninterested in their offer they would follow you up to your car and even block the door repeating the same offer. You thank your lucky star that it is broad daylight and not late afternoon. These dalals definitely look like rogues and they operate right before the eyes of the policemen on duty in the area. The most annoying part that they work in cahoots with the officials and clerks in the passport offices, who get a cut of the extra money people pay to get their passports within two or three hours to travel on an emergency basis. The price tag is unlimited. It depends on how fast you want it or how vulnerable you look to them. A tough looking customer may get away by paying half the amount a susceptible one will have to pay. The passport banijya (business), we heard, had almost disappeared during the two-year period of the caretaker government. But now they are back with a bang. So, next time you go there be sure to look tough. Roads worthy of commentsSome new roads have come up in the capital and some more are coming up, built by the army. A drive down those roads will make one feel quite happy, as one will be able to avoid a longer journey and at the same time avoid traffic jams. For example, the new road that takes a turn towards the west from in front of the office of the former prime minister and former chief adviser of the caretaker government, takes you to Rokeya Shoroni in a jiffy, from where you can go towards Mohammadpur and Mirpur. This makes you avoid the long wait at the Bijoy Shoroni roundabout. Now, we should not hesitate to thank the caretaker government and the army for this brilliant idea, should we? There is more. On Monday morning, while coming towards Karwan Bazar, I noticed that the roundabout at Agargaon is being widened to allow free flow of vehicles from Mohammadpur towards Circle 10 at Mirpur, and towards Mohammadpur/Shishu Hospital from Rokeya Shoroni. It is another brilliant idea being implemented by the army. And once the Bijoy Shoroni-Tejgaon link road and the Hatirjheel-Rampura link road are completed, we will see less of traffic jams at various points. Traffic congestions and some suggestions
This writer, in many previous articles on why traffic jams are caused, had given the suggestion of widening the roads and roundabouts by breaking down existing shops or offices. Many such structures have been constructed violating the laws and bylaws. It may hurt some people for some time but will solve traffic congestions to a considerable degree. And to avoid vehicles dropping or picking up people and thereby hindering free flow of traffic, it is most essential not to allow any more shops and shopping malls to be constructed on main thoroughfares. Dhaka city has more shops and malls than required, therefore advise enthusiasts to invest in other sectors. It is also true that we need many more flyovers in the capital. Frankly, we need not think of long ones. Shorter ones like the one on Mahakhali railway tracks will be good enough. Isn't that serving the purpose? Why do we have to always think of big ones? At the same time, take the railway tracks away from the heart of the city. These are not only causing regular jams, they are taking human lives at regular intervals too. Since railway travel is picking up with better services, the government should seek funds to construct the tracks elsewhere. With the tracks gone, we can build some parallel roads to make travel easy and faster. While we are addressing the traffic jam issue, we may at the same time suggest no more import vehicles for the next five years. We believe thousands of cars still remain unsold, and the Chittagong Port also has thousands of them waiting to be cleared. At the same time, please take forty-year old cars and buses off to make the roads and highways safer. Once thousands of such vehicles are sent to dump yards, we can allow new ones to hit the roads. I hope someone at the policy making level is reading this stuff.
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