Capital’s traffic in mess

The capital’s traffic police seldom enforce the law against errant drivers of buses and minibuses.
The impunity enjoyed by the owners and the drivers emboldened them to flout the traffic rules in the presence of the cops.
Urban planners blamed a sinister nexus between the police, the transport owners and workers for the capital’s deteriorating traffic chaos.
They said that the cops permit errant drivers to pick up and drop passengers even at busy intersections in gross violation of the traffic rules.
The upshot is increased traffic congestions, they said.
The illegal practice cause fatal accidents, they said.
Buses are stopped anywhere and everywhere and the commuters are forced to get in or get down from speeding buses.
Batteries of traffic police standing nearby take no notice of such gross violations.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s prohibitions proclaimed on billboards raise doubts about authenticity in public mind.
When the drivers of the capital’s 5,000 buses and minibuses flout traffic rules with impunity the traffic mess on the streets is bound to get more and more acute, said urban planners.
Reckless drivers on the wheels of buses and minibuses became a common sight on the capital’s streets, they said.
Many of the drivers even have no license, they said.
It’s not uncommon for the owners to hire underage drivers as they could be paid less wages, said urban planners.
They said that these illegal practices take place to make commuting unsafe only because the police show no interest to enforce the law.
Bus and minibus drivers are seen flouting traffic signals manually given by the police, they said.
Auto-rickshaw drivers also ignore the manually given traffic signals, they said.
Bus and minibus drivers pick up and drop passengers at even the busy intersection ignoring the prohibitions notified by the DMP using billboards.
Run down unfit buses and minibuses transport commuters, charging excess fares as there is none to check the gross violations.
Traffic police on duty invariably take no notice of the violations.
DMP says at least 2,000 cases were filed against traffic rules violators every day.
Bangladesh Poribesh Bachao Andolon joint secretary and architect Iqbal Habib said that the violations could take place with total impunity due to a sinister nexus between the traffic cops and the transport owners and drivers.
He told New Age that an impartial survey would reveal the identity of benami bus and minibus owners, many of whom were retired or serving law enforcement personnel.
He said that the drivers and the owners flout the traffic rules as they know that they can escape punishments.
Iqbal said the situation was bound to deteriorate until and unless the cops and the transport owners and workers were brought under accountability.
Centre for Urban Studies chairman Nazrul Islam said that an unwritten arrangement between the police administration and transport owners and drivers was at the root of absence of rules and good governance in the transport sector.
He said the example of kids at the wheels of buses and minibuses on the very nose of the police highlights the seriousness of the capital’s traffic situation.
‘Why the police don’t take such violations into cognizance?’ he asked.
But for the understanding between the cops and the transport owners and the workers none would dare to flout the traffic rules, said, BUET’s Urban and Regional Planning professor Sarwar Jahan.
Not that these violations take place rarely or all of a sudden, he said.
Traffic rules are flouted daily only because the police looks the other way, he said.
DMP joint commissioner (traffic) Mosleh Uddin Ahmed flatly denied there was an unholy alliance between traffic police and the transport owners and drivers.
‘Yes, it would be correct to say we are not being able to enforce 100 per cent of the law, he said.
But it is the duty of each and every citizen to be law abiding, he said.
He said more foot over bridges would be constructed in the capital to make the roads safer for the pedestrians.
He also said that the DMP holds meetings with the transport owners and the drivers at regular intervals to raise their awareness about the benefits of adhering to traffic rules.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net