Editorial
Parking chaos getting severer
Space constraints can be addressed
Acursory look at Motijheel and Dilkusha commercial areas makes one wonder at the city administration's turning a blind eye to the maddening traffic congestion and harrowing experience of the commuters. Getting in or out of the commercial hub has become a nightmarish ordeal, as hundreds of vehicles remain parked erratically on two sides of the four-lane roads. The resulting narrowing down of roads make it difficult to accommodate the rush of vehicles from early morning till late evening. On two sides of the roads, some of the multistoried buildings have allotted parking space but there are many others who do not have such a facility.
The worst part of the story is that Dhaka City Corporation (DCC), instead of taking steps to create more parking space is exploiting the situation to collect fees from the parked vehicles. It beats all logic why despite an existing multi-storied parking facility at Sadharan Bima Corporation, DCC has assigned a company to collect fees from the parked vehicles in Motijheel and Dilkusha area. The parking facility at Sadharan Bima Corporation at Dilkusha can accommodate 575 vehicles but only about 200 vehicles are parked there on an average every day. Reportedly, parking fee there is more than what is charged on the roads. Even so, if the law enforcers had taken action against illegal parking, vehicle owners would have had no option but to park in allotted spaces. This sounds like an organised racket that is going on right before the eyes of the city administration. Actually, by collecting fees from parked cars on the roads DCC is sanctifying an illegal practice.
Dhaka is a sprawling metropolis with mounting pressure of traffic, but the car owners seem to live in the past and hang on to their old habit of car parking just about anywhere. They have to change their attitude and adapt to the new laws and regulations that will have to be imposed from time to time to make the city livable. The relevant authorities should also make it mandatory for the owners of multistoried buildings to ensure parking space inside the premises.
To give Dhaka the profile of a modern city, traffic management has to be given number one priority.
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