We all know just how bad the traffic congestion can be in our capital city. Owing to a number of inconsistencies and poor planning in the infrastructure and execution of development plans over the years, we all know the sheer madness of having to sit still in the same lane on the same road for hours on end.
While the traffic conditions are always bad, they get exacerbated tenfold every time certain big events are held in the city, and the beginning of the 56th Ijtema resulted in the expected, as traffic in and around Dhaka mutated to unprecedented levels over the weekend.
Why is this such an unshakable problem for our capital city?
There was a lot of optimism surrounding the Metro Rail alleviating our monstrous traffic levels, but the problem remains intact if not slightly worse since the inauguration of the first phase.
And, of course, the true cost of traffic congestion is hard to estimate -- with uncountable hours wasted on the road, and damage done to people's health along with the economic costs which run in the billions. After all, the more time that gets wasted on the roads, the more we are held back as a nation.
Any solutions to our traffic problems needs to take into cognizance Dhaka's underlying issue of harbouring a dense population. Suffice to say, our population density is not sustainable. Therefore, it must be kept in mind that, no matter how hard we try to fix our traffic problem through surveys, studies, and planning, in the long run, we simply must decentralize our nation from relying so inordinately on our capital city.
While not a silver bullet solution, decentralization is the only way our roads can finally breathe a little easy.
