|
ONCE some initiatives were taken to remove the street hazards in the city. Under the initiatives, we saw some steps taken to remove illegal rickshaws from the streets and stop plying of slow-moving vehicles in a number of roads. Many buses under private and public sector management were allowed to operate to facilitate the movement of commuters.
To ease the street congestion and minimise air pollution, the authorities concerned also removed the old and unfit buses from the streets. But now-a-days, we do not see any continuation of these government programmes.
A number of recent media reports indicated that the government was considering to implement a strategic plan to solve the city's traffic problems with a long futuristic vision. As per the planning, the authorities concerned were likely to implement some transportation projects in phases and complete the work in next 20 years. But we could not yet see any development under the programme.
On the other hand, a report was published on the likelihood of launching of the second phase of Dhaka Urban Transport project which made many of us scared.
When the city people are already fed up with so many ill-managed buses launched under DUTP-1, the second phase at the expense of a huge amount of money would be a disaster.
On reviewing all these things, it now seems to us that the government has given up its programme to improve the traffic situation in the city. Due to their failure in implementing these programmes properly, traffic congestion gets worse everyday in the city and people lose hours in the streets being stranded because of traffic jams.
We believe that if the authorities concerned could evaluate their initiatives taken so far and could identify and take corrective measures, the street conditions will be better and the city people will feel greatly relieved.
Samsuzzaman
DOHS,
Dhaka
|