Traffic signal lights installed at different points in the port city with a view to improving traffic system have remained idle due to lack of coordination between Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) and Chittagong City Corporation (CCC).
Traffic police are facing difficulties while controlling traffic movement during the rush hour as they maintain traffic flow manually.
A total of 11,321 trucks, 2,855 buses, 10,879 minibuses, 4,974 mini trucks, 29,292 cars, 1,503 human hauliers, 56,995 motorbikes and 4,974 pickup vans ply the Chittagong city streets every day, said a recent research conducted by BRAC Institute of Governance and Development.
Sources at Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) said the traffic signal lights were installed at 39 key points in the city for the first time in 1989-90 fiscal year. Later, the CCC had installed five more traffic signal lights.
Before the Cricket World Cup in 2013, 10 more intersections had got the modern traffic signal lights with countdown system while halogen lights were also installed at 15 more intersections.
Msahfuzul Hoque, superintendent engineer (Electrical) of the CCC, told the Dhaka Tribune that the CCC had installed 10 LED traffic lights and 15 halogen traffic lights at a cost of Tk1.50 crore, but police were reluctant to use it despite the modern facilities.
While visiting several key points, this correspondent found that chaotic traffic situations erupted as police were manually controlling traffic.
At GEC and Nizam intersections, traffic police were found controlling the vehicular movement using ropes as road barrier to keep the traffic in line instead of using the signal lights.
In a recent visit, traffic lights were found fully functional in Sagarika, CEPZ, Laldighi ground, New Market and GEC areas while lights in Lalkhan Bazar, Agrabad, Kazir Dewri, Tigerpass areas were seen out of order.
AKM Shahidur Rahman, additional commissioner (finance, administration and traffic) of CMP, said: “There is a huge unsimilarity between the traffic light time-set system and traffic flows which is the barrier behind the facility”.
“Considering this problem CCC has already prepared a proposal over “Remote Control System Traffic Light” and it will be sent to the higher authority seeking approval”, said the CCC official.
He also said if the city corporation authority handed over the maintenance of the traffic lights to the CMP, it would fix time-set system with the flow of traffic.
CCC engineer Msahfuzul Hoque declined to say anything why the maintence of the signal lights are not handed over to the CMP authority.
