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EVERY year, Eid festivals give the city dwellers a respite from terrific traffic jam and sound pollution. As the hundreds of thousand of people go back to their village homes on these occasions, the city gets a disciplined look and the residents who stay back in the city heave a sigh of relief. However, the situation may not be the same after some years in view of continuous influx of people from other areas of the country.
From media reports, we have seen how homebound people on the eve of Eid remained stranded near the Aricha ferry ghat for hours after hours due to traffic jam. Many were not able to reach their destinations before Eid day. Some might say that this traffic jam occurred due to heavy fog. But we believe it was coincidental. The way the people are migrating to Dhaka from other areas, the days are possibly not too far when people have to halt for a day on way to their home due to heavy traffic on the highways. If this migration is not checked from now, the number of homebound people would be increased and so are the number of accidents on the road or river routes.
All will agree that sufferings of the homebound people would not be lessened only by increasing the number of vehicles or controlling reckless driving. This kind of efforts are made only when the problem is viewed from a narrow perspective. Festivals are meant for enjoyment of the people and this has to be ensured by the government by giving all possible support to the people. So government has to see the problems of the homebound people from its real perspective. Checking migration is the right way to solve this problem that would soon be very difficult to address. And the government has to take enough programmes so that people feel discouraged to come to the city for a living.
Rahmatullah
Basaboo, Dhaka
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