It is no big secret that the traffic problem in Dhaka city plagues millions of residents on a daily basis. The capital remains infamous for its traffic congestion, owing to a number of inconsistencies in the infrastructure and execution of development plans over the years.
Much has been said about the state of the traffic system, as well as possible solutions that could, once and for all, alleviate the problem for city-dwellers. Development plans such as the metro rail and subways are underway, which could potentially elucidate the problem to a certain extent.
However, all the steps that have been taken over the last many years seem to have done very little -- proving, once again, that the problem goes much deeper than these short-term solutions can mend.
On top of the lack of proper road planning, our country, in general, suffers from a number of issues which have a significant impact on the increasing traffic congestion -- specifically, our inept traffic laws and the centralized nature of the country, which leads to a disproportionate daily number of people and vehicles moving in the city, and our overt dependence on a non-digitized system for any and all operations.
It is disheartening to see the authorities fail to acknowledge the severity of the problem, and the colossal damage the traffic problem is doing to the people, their productivity, and the economy. The more time is wasted on the roads, the more we're held back as a nation.
It is of utmost importance that the relevant authorities pay close attention to the actual causes of the dire situation we're in, and take all necessary actions to mitigate each of them in a sustainable manner.
We have suffered enough.