2024-08-22 08:40:06
My Bangladesh Party (AB Party) has demanded to reduce traffic congestion and ensure improved traffic management on an urgent basis with the cooperation of the army in the important cities of the country including Dhaka. At the same time, the party also demanded to implement 11 recommendations to solve the traffic jam.
AB Party Member Secretary Mojibur Rahman Manju made this claim in a briefing at the party’s central office at 4 pm on Wednesday.
Barrister Asaduzzaman Fuad, joint member secretary of the party, presented the main speech in the briefing. AB Party Member Secretary Mojibur Rahman Manju answered various questions of journalists. Among the central leaders present were party joint convener BM Nazmul Haque, joint member secretary barrister Zobair Ahmed Bhuiya, advocate Abdullah Al Mamun Rana, campaign secretary Anwar Sadat Tutul, senior assistant member secretary ABM Khalid Hasan and metropolitan north convener Altaf Hossain.
He put forward some proposals to solve the problem of traffic congestion. They are-1. A high-powered commission consisting of national and foreign members can be constituted to solve the problem of traffic congestion. The commission will determine the real cause of the traffic jam, suggest solutions and collect necessary funds.
2. The number of private cars in the capital Dhaka should be controlled. The number of private vehicles is considered as one of the causes of traffic congestion.
3. Cities need to be decentralized.
4. Road Act 2018 should be implemented.
5. Traffic management should be digitized.
6. Freeing sidewalk hawkers and making arrangements for rehabilitation of hawkers.
7. Increasing parking space.
8. Police/BRTA must be free of corruption.
9. Regulating transport workers/owners associations.
10. Vehicle wrecking/lifting should be stopped.
11. Buses on company based routes need to be dropped, then the sick competition will be reduced.
Mojibur Rahman Manju complained that mismanagement of the traffic police, non-transfer of passengers at certain bus stops, extortion by the police and their associates at every intersection, parking all over the main roads and shops on the roads have destroyed the entire transport system of the main cities of the country including the capital, said that as a result of this, after hours Hours are wasting people’s precious time. He demanded to reduce the traffic congestion and ensure improved traffic management with the help of the army immediately to eliminate this mismanagement.
In response to a question, Mojibur Rahman Manju said, today we are talking about the traffic jam because you see that the whole of Dhaka has come to a standstill for the past week. People are suffering a lot. Our students managed the traffic beautifully by maintaining the lanes for several days. As our army is in the field in the current problem, it is now very important to organize the traffic system of Dhaka for three months in the form of a pilot project by coordinating the army with the students and the police. He urged all the concerned advisors, student leaders to take immediate consideration of the proposals announced by the AB Party in order to normalize the traffic system.
Barrister Fouad said, the road is being made narrower and narrower by leaving sidewalks, garbage vans, cars everywhere. Disobeying traffic laws is disrupting the normal order of the road. Apart from this, lack of foresight of the driver, flow of people towards the city, unpaved roads etc. are also one of the causes of traffic jam. Unplanned urbanization, shortage of roads, increase in private cars, encroachment of footpaths and roads, mismanagement and lack of coordination of public transport have led to this traffic jam situation. Even if all metro lines are completed by 2035, traffic congestion will not be reduced unless bus services are improved. Because, still 17 percent of the total passengers will use metro. There will be trust in others. Roads in Dhaka are 7-8 percent of the total land, a megacity should have 25 percent roads of the city area. A significant part of these roads is again occupied by parking lots and hawkers. Except for a few roads in the city, most of the roads do not have footpaths. Dhaka Transport Coordinating Authority, Traffic Police, BRTS are involved in the activities of various organizations. Emphasis should be placed on main roads and community-based road management instead of just relying on metro.
Suggesting the introduction of improved bus services on the main roads along with the metro, he said, the main reason for the severe traffic congestion in the capital is the presence of additional private cars, about 80 percent of the road vehicles are private cars, 54.2 percent of the total roads. The city’s air is polluted due to long running of car engines. As a result, the number of people suffering from various diseases including asthma and asthma is increasing. About 200 new types of transport are hitting the streets of Dhaka every day. In 2030, the population of Dhaka will be 3 crore.
AB Party Assistant Member Secretary Shah Abdur Rahman, Mustafa Bin Malek, Youth Party Member Secretary Hadiuzzaman Khokon, Metropolitan South Joint Convener Anwar Farooq, North Member Secretary Salim Khan, South Joint Member Secretary Safiul Basar, Central Committee Member Runa Hossain, Shahinur Akhter Sheela, Ripon Mahmud, Sharan Chowdhury, Moshiur Rahman Milu, Amena Begum and other leaders of central and metropolitan areas.