Easing traffic congestion
Newspaper reports of government plans to construct elevated express ways, sky trains and underground railway (metro) make wonderful reading. The reports should also mention the cost, who will bear it and how, and how long it will take to construct. We cannot live in hope for 15/20 years to find the money and build the facility. What is needed is something achievable in the next few months. Incidentally, sky trains in Bangkok have proved to be a waste as the train cannot pull more than three bogies.
Sometimes small things yield big results. How about the following to ease the nightmarish traffic problem of Dhaka particularly the man-made nightmare created in Banani Road No 11?
First, banning right turns at all intersections as far as possible. No Right Turn signs will have be put up at every intersection and strictly enforced. Second, since the opening of Banani-Gulshan bridge, Road No.11 in Banani has become very busy and at peak hours there is terrble traffic snarl up. This could be easily resolved by banning right turn at the intersection of Road 11 and 12, banning car parking in front of HSBC and Sajna Restaurant on Road No.11, banning car park at Road No.10, 10A and 10B which channel a lot of traffic from Road No.11 to airport road via Chairmanbari, and lastly, cut the trees on Road 11, relocate the electric poles and widen Road No.11.
M Ahmed
Via e-mail
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The BSS news report published recently on Dhaka traffic jam, should be a must read item for our home and communication ministers and their top ranking bureaucrats; in particular the police DIGs; to be really aware of what is happening in traffic management in Dhaka. The same also probably applies to the traffic scenario in Chittagong and Khulna. As reported, traffic jams halt traffic for a total period of 7.5 hours every day! Since bulk of traffic movement is between 7 am to 10pm at most; the traffic is clogged for 7.5 hours out of 15; a staggering 50 per cent of time traffic is heavy!
The key fact is the subjective hand signals of the traffic police at most road crossings. They often override the light signals even when it is operating adding more confusion to an already bad situation; since their hand movement at low level is not visible while the traffic light located about 10 feet high is clearly visible. The principle should be a timer set traffic signal with constant duration of one or two minutes intervals so that long traffic stream is broken up into manageable slots of traffic in all directions. Do the traffic police and their controlling authorities know anything about slot management of traffic? One can only wonder given the daily traffic chaos and confusion with contradictory light and hand signals, most of the time, at most crossings! To sum up poor traffic management by our traffic police is the root cause of this daily misery that is suffered by us.
Another important peace of information, revealed by a Roads & Highways Engineer who estimates that we burn away about Tk10,000 Crore worth of costly imported fuel every year while transport vehicles are idling with the engine turning over in traffic jams! Does any one care to resolve this solvable problem while our ministers cry hoarse for everyone to be economic and saving money in all matters?
SA Mansoor
Via e-mail
Fresh water fish
The report ‘Endangered: 54 species of fresh water fish’ published in a local daily on October 30 draws our attention to the urgent need for developing policies and programmes to help protect our local varieties of fish.
The causes of gradual disappearance of fish varieties including indiscriminate use of current net, widespread use of insecticides and abuse of the law have been discussed briefly. The remedial measures such as re-excavations of water bodies, proper implementation of fish act, crash programme for open water development, rehabilitation of fishermen and community based fisheries management programmes suggested in the report need to be considered seriously by the government and other agencies so that an action programme can be started immediately to save our precious fresh water fish.
Nuruddin Azam
Australia
Government and the ruling party
The present government has appointed so many advisers on contractual basis and now wants to appoint ambassadors also.
The brilliant and meritorious students from different fields sit for the competitive examinations and after qualifying are given jobs in various government services and become efficient in their departments. By appointing advisers and ambassadors not only those brilliant persons are denied their legitimate rights but also it is a tendency to prove that they are not sufficiently qualified. Why? Because they are government servants and not affiliated with the ruling political parties. So, Bangladesh is not a government of the people, by the people, for the people; it is a government of the ruling political party and for the ruling political party-persons.
Kabir Ahmad
California, USA
