Roads are no parking lots

The two mayors of Dhaka, on Tuesday, announced that buses would not be allowed to remain parked on city roads from April 01 next.

Violation of the directive would invite actions, they warned while speaking at the 25th meeting of the special committee of the bus route rationalisation.

The unauthorised parking of buses in front of the inter-district bus terminals obstructing movement of vehicles, particularly at Mohakhali, is a major sore point of the city's traffic management. The problem does also exist at both Syedabad and Gabtoli inter-district bus terminals, but it is not as severe as it is witnessed at Mohakhali where other vehicles can hardly pass through. Both sides of the road, starting from Nabisco U-loop up to Mohakhali crossing remain mostly occupied by inter-district buses. On-duty traffic policemen are found to be indifferent to the problem for reasons best known to them. The Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) also has not done anything tangible to solve the problem. A lack of action, thus, has emboldened the bus operators to expand the unauthorised occupation of an important thoroughfare of the city.

There is also a different type of unauthorised parking of buses on roads of Dhaka city and that happens after 10 at night. Hundreds of buses are kept parked on the main and peripheral roads until dawn. Some buses remain parked even during the daytime.

The only reason for keeping the buses on the roads is that the owners do not have any other option. For inter-district buses, there are three bus terminals but each of those has limited space. There is no alternative to keeping these buses on the roads. The situation is even worse for the buses plying the city routes. Owners of these transports have always found the city roads as a convenient parking place. Why wouldn't they when none has ever told them it is illegal to keep buses on the roads for hours, obstructing the movement of vehicles?

City fathers have announced that from April 01, no bus would be allowed to park on the roads. But where will these buses go?

The city corporations have plans to build large bus terminals on the outskirts of Dhaka. But they are yet to select areas for such bus terminals, let alone build those.

Dhaka's traffic system has grown haphazardly, and none has ever bothered to streamline it. The indifference has been taking a heavy toll on the city dwellers as they very often get caught in long tailbacks on the way to their destinations. The cost of such tailbacks, in terms of lost man hours and burnt fuels, is huge. Flyovers and overpasses have been built also at a substantial cost, but there is no respite from the gridlocks.

Given the overall management of the city's transport sector, it is nothing surprising that the need for building large depots for the city and inter-district buses would escape the notice of the city corporations and others involved with overseeing such issues. It is expected that while making plans for streamlining the city traffic system, the authorities concerned would keep in mind the issue of ridding the city roads of unauthorized bus parking.

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