Survey after survey has found Dhaka to be one of the more unliveable cities in the world.
To residents of Dhaka, the biggest culprit behind this dubious distinction is obvious -- the traffic.
In the past few years, Dhaka’s traffic congestion problem has become quite unmanageable.
Just yesterday, this newspaper editorialised about the laudable economic growth rate being experienced by Bangladesh, and the fact that traffic has emerged as our biggest problem is in many ways a testament to our growth and prosperity.
But a problem it remains.
The price-tag for this kind of traffic is simply too steep, both for the hard-working residents of the city and for the country as a whole.
Many of the gains from economic dynamism of the country will be undermined if quality of life in the capital continues to worsen steadily with time.
A large part of the solution lies in decentralisation.
The congestion in the capital has spiralled out of control because of Bangladesh’s over-centralisation -- businesses and government facilities are concentrated in Dhaka, when it would do the nation good to spread them out to other cities.
With Dhaka already being one of the most densely populated metropolises in the world, it is now time for the government to build upon its past successes and tackle the traffic issue as a priority.
Progress can also be made through the building of proper infrastructure. The government has already taken steps to build an efficient mass transit system to ease the burden on the roads. Better enforcement of traffic rules would go a long way in imposing some discipline on Dhaka’s chaotic traffic movement.
To carry on in our current path is not sustainable. We need to make some changes to get the capital back on track.
