In yesterday’s news, we learned of the opening of the underpass on Airport Road where, in July 2018, two students -- Diya Khanam Mim and Abdul Karim Rajib -- were killed as a result of two buses racing to pick up passengers.
As a result of this tragedy and the significant public outcry that followed, we were told that many things would be put right. There are, however, thousands of unfit buses and trucks on the roads, and very little has been done about it in the last two years. I would call this a “criminal and corrupt delay.”
It is common knowledge that if you want to renew your car’s road tax and “fitness” certificate, you do not need to take your vehicle to the BRTA. You just pay a “middleman” to do the needful, and you receive all the correct documents without having to move your car from its parking place in your apartment. A number of people involved, from top to bottom, receive the “speed money.”
Having lived for the last 24 years in Banani, I am accustomed to observing how the traffic police operate at the Gulshan-2 crossing. Sometimes, there are up to 12 policemen in different locations at the crossroads; but when I have asked them why they have not disciplined this or that vehicle, they informed me that they are not on traffic duty but on security duty, and that they cannot intervene in anything to do with drivers breaking the traffic rules. This is quite unbelievable.
At the same time, the traffic police are sometimes so busy on their mobile phones or intercoms that they cannot pay attention to the traffic. It is the traffic police who should be educating or disciplining the drivers and pedestrians about road safety and the traffic rules. I should also note that the rapidly increasing number of motorbikes do not get disciplined at all, and they are forever jumping the red lights with impunity.
However, sometimes, it must be admitted that drivers cannot see the traffic lights because posters have been hung up, which block the drivers’ line of sight of the traffic lights. Once, when I suggested to the police on duty to remove the poster that was blocking the sight of the traffic light, I was told that as the poster had the photo of the Father of the Nation and the current prime minister, it could not be removed without permission from a higher official. That is such a ridiculous comment when lives are at stake. When will the traffic police wake up?
And while on the safety of pedestrians and the failure of authorities, it is important to refer to the walkways that were constructed a few years ago on the sides of the lakes. The walkways on the sides of the lake between Banani and Gulshan were made so that pedestrians could walk safely avoiding busy roads like Road 27 in Banani, the pavements of which are often, illegally, blocked by construction materials such as steel rods, bricks, and sand.
Now, parts of the walkway on the Banani side are blocked by cars parking, a rickshaw park, and a building materials depot. The cars are parked because the Dhaka North Municipal Corporation and, possibly, Rajuk have illegally allowed a residential road, Road 22, Block-K, Banani to become commercial, including a hospital. A hospital with no car park on a narrow road which is a dead end road? It is difficult to believe. And what has the Banani Society done about this situation? Nothing at all, it seems!
It would seem that no department is responsible for the walkway, for keeping it clean. Part of it has been covered by broken masonry, and in other parts, leaking waste water from adjoining apartment buildings is leaking onto the walkway, making it unhygienic and, in addition, a place where people throw away face masks. So much for controlling the spread of infection!
Is there not a public health authority which should be looking at all aspects of public health, including public areas like footpaths, tea stalls, and snack shops? Sadly, most people throw away anything.
Can we not start the next 50 years in a better way?
Julian Francis has been associated with relief and development activities of Bangladesh since the War of Liberation. In 2012, the Government of Bangladesh awarded him the ‘Friends of Liberation War Honour’ in recognition of his work among the refugees in India in 1971 and in 2018, honoured him with full Bangladeshi citizenship.