The High Court has ordered the formulation of a "master plan" by a panel of experts to find effective ways to curb traffic congestion in Dhaka city.
After the initial hearing of a public interest litigation on Sunday, the bench of justices Tariq ul Hakim and Md Shohrowardi also ordered the concerned authorities to file a report within three months.
On May 16, Supreme Court lawyer Ishrat Hasan filed the petition seeking the court’s order to form a special task-force to ease traffic jam in the city, reports Bangla Tribune.
The petitioner pleaded to the court to issue a rule asking the authorities to explain why their failure to address the Dhaka traffic issue should not be declared illegal.
Secretaries of home, road transport, planning, finance, and environment ministries, chairman of Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha, mayors of Dhaka South, and North city corporations. and inspector general of police were made respondents in the petition.
The petition cited a recent study, which said Bangladesh loses Tk3,700 crore a year, which is equal to 11% of the national budget, to traffic congestion in Dhaka.
The Accident Research Institute at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) published the study in May this year.
In a 2018 study, the World Bank had said people in Dhaka face a waste of 3.8 million work hours, but BUET researchers said the amount is five million work hours.
The latest study also found 74% of accidents in Dhaka occur when pedestrians cross the streets.
