A PICTURE carried in a national daily shows two gas cylinders and a gas burner were being chained by a man over a foot over-bridge in the city has caught our attention as the foot over bridges in the city are not properly managed for smoothing pedestrian communication. Usually foot over-bridge is set up to ensure road crossing in the busiest roads, however, most of the over-bridges in the city are being used for hawking, where pedestrian swerve through vendors. Not only foot over-bridges, footpaths, and public spaces also remain occupied by vendors, forcing pedestrians to walk through roads resulting in accidents. The city dwellers have been asked to use walkways for many years, but no sustainable system has been developed yet.
Over the years, we have witnessed several drives to free up Dhaka’s roads from illegal parking and footpaths from the occupation of the hawkers. Unfortunately, the condition of those roads and footpaths reverted to their occupied state within a very short time. And we all know why: we do not have proper, designated car parking facilities, hawkers are usually evicted without being relocated and keeping them on footpaths means money for some law enforcers and the political activists linked with power. We need a well-coordinated, long-term plan to free the streets, footpaths, and over-bridge of Dhaka. For that, both the city corporations should sit with the relevant agencies that work for the city’s development, including various private organizations that have been carrying out development projects in the city and make an implementable plan.
The city authorities should also hold separate meetings with the hawkers’ associations to discuss their plans, including the relocation of the hawkers. Conducting random drives have little effect if not followed through under a sustained plan. We hope the city authorities will take the issue seriously and take measures that will have fruitful results. During the pandemic, most of the hawkers are in hardship to cope with the new reality of income reduce and alternative skills have developed. The government should make a plan on how to incorporate them into the urban economy to maintain safety and security of pedestrians.
