Pedestrians, commuters and vehicular movement continue to suffer greatly in the capital since illegal roadside iftar shops and haphazardly parked cars occupy most of the city’s walkways.
As authorities concerned continue to turn a blind eye to the public’s suffering, iftar sellers, fruit traders, hawkers and vendors have been taking advantage of the situation, ever since the start of Ramadan, by setting up shops on roads and footpaths and causing traffic deadlocks in most of the capital’s thoroughfares.
At the same time, as people gear up for Eid-ul-Fitr, illegal parking in front of different shopping malls has increased and private cars and rickshaws are seen blocking major portions of busy roads and alleys.
Such illegal activities have been continuing in capital even when the Dhaka Metropolitan Police had earlier warned that they would not allow any makeshift shops to do business on the city’s footpaths and streets during Ramadan.
Before Ramadan began, DMP Commissioner Benazir Ahmed said: “Temporary shops selling iftar obstruct vehicular movement during Ramadan every year. Such types of makeshift shops will be allowed to do business on footpaths this year.”
“There will be a huge number of law enforcers engaged in controlling such illegal activities alongside drives against the adulteration of food during Ramadan,” he added.
However, yesterday this correspondent found that hundreds of temporary iftar and fruit shops were engaged in brisk business, occupying public walkways, streets and even portions of different busy roads at prime spots of the capital, such as Farmgate, Gulistan, Motijheel, New Market, Mirpur, Mogbazar, Malibagh, Mouchak, Badda, Uttara, Gabtoli, Jatrabari, among others.
“We cannot walk on any side of the road or on the footpaths from Motijheel to Purana Paltan and even vehicles cannot move freely on the road as these illegal iftar shops and fruit vendors now occupy most of the walkways,” Hamidur Rahman, an employee of a private organisation in Motijheel, told the Dhaka Tribune when returning home from office.
He also said before every Ramadan, the law enforcers promise that they will take measures to stop such nuisances and end public harassment, but every time they fail to make any difference.
When contacted, DMP Deputy Commissioner for Media and Publication Masudur Rahman could not be reached over the phone despite repeated attempts.
He, however, told the media earlier: “If we find any makeshift iftar shops on footpaths or streets, we will remove the shops and take legal actions against them.”
However, Kamal, the owner of a roadside iftar shop in Motijheel, told the Dhaka Tribune: “We have been doing business here since the beginning of Ramadan, like many other iftar sellers in the area. We have been doing this every year and the police never give us any trouble.”
At the same time, many busy roads have been dug by different utility service providers of the capital’s two city corporations, adding to the woes of pedestrians and commuters during the monsoon.
