For the first time in Bangladesh, the government is set to install an “Advanced Traffic Management System” on the Padma Bridge and Dhaka-Mawa-Bhanga Expressway to curb frequent road crashes.
The digital traffic system will be launched by December this year, Md Abul Hossain, supervising engineer of Bangladesh Bridge Authority, told Dhaka Tribune on Thursday.
File Photo Dhaka-Mawa-Bhanga Expressway Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka Tribune“We will introduce the Advanced Traffic Management System on the entire Dhaka-Mawa-Bhanga Expressway, including the Padma Bridge, to curb road accidents. This system will be introduced for the first time in Bangladesh, although foreign countries have been using it for a long time,” he said.
Hossain further noted that the system would allow the Padma Bridge authorities to collect detailed information about vehicles and drivers using the bridge. "Speed guns and CCTVs will also be installed so that if a vehicle exceeds the speed limit or any inconsistency is observed, immediate action can be taken,” he added.
On June 25, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the much-awaited Padma Bridge. The bridge was opened to traffic the next day.
However, on the same night, two motorcyclists were killed after being hit by a covered van.
Following the accident, the government banned the movement of two-wheelers on the bridge.
On Sunday, Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam said the authorities were unlikely to lift the ban on motorcycles before Eid-ul-Azha.
Meanwhile, in the last 11 days, accidents have been reported on the Padma Bridge. Two people were killed, and several others were injured.
On Wednesday, a private car damaged a road divider on the bridge. Two persons, Tuhin, and Abu Syed, were injured.
On Saturday, a 60-year-old man named Abdul Haque Mollah was killed when a microbus overturned on the Dhaka-Mawa-Bhanga Expressway at Zajira point of the Padma Bridge.
At least 15 people were injured in the incident.
Besides, on June 30, a 50-year-old woman was killed when she was hit by a vehicle on the Dhaka-Mawa Expressway.
On June 27, at least four people were injured when a truck overturned on the north viaduct of the Padma Bridge at the Mawa end.
