MEDIA reports said that during the much talked about DMP drive against jaywalkers on the VIP road starting from Hotel Ruposhi Bangla to Farm Gate, magistrates of the two mobile courts penalized more than 600 persons but the situation turned messy and business remained as usual, leaving the attempt utterly useless. It was claimed that the aim of the drive was to build awareness among citizens about the dangers of haphazard use of roads. But the first question that strikes the common mind is how a pedestrian can walk along the narrowed and occupied footpaths – it has not been answered by any authority. The said portion of the road has six footbridges and an underpass. The footbridge next to Ananda Cinema has been blocked by Dhaka North City Corporation for being in a poor physical condition for long. Two other footbridges are also in shabby conditions, and pavements under the footbridges are occupied by construction materials. The sidewalks near the footbridge at Farm Gate intersection are occupied by hawkers, compelling the pedestrians to walk on the road. This is the ‘on the ground realities’ of the VVIP road in question. The scenario of other roads or sub-roads need no description.
A research revealed that in Dhaka City around two crore people travel every day, of which 20 percent travel by walking even upto 2.5 km to reach their destinations. The metro-city of more than 15 million people has only 7.5 percent roads as a percentage of its total area (for a standard city, the minimum road requirement is 25%) of which 30 percent is occupied by hawkers, salesmen and shopkeepers. Thus, it is presumably destined to be a hostile city to the pedestrians. More than 14 lakh vehicles ply in this city’s 1,286 km long road network where footpaths are not available on 44 percent roads, and 82 percent footpaths are in poor condition, another research estimated. At least 31 percent of the pedestrians claimed that they were hurt while walking on footpaths due to several hurdles, potholes, open manholes and roadside construction works. Delay in construction works of several flyovers has further worsened the road conditions of the city.
City planners, the Communications experts in particular, opined that the DMP Drive is not a well planned or thought of one as it has, perhaps, been designed to boost up DMP’s lost public image and trust for its high-handed activities over the past years using the anti-jaywalkers drive move as a publicity stand.
Even in this damage control act, the DMP men, as alleged by the rights activists, resorted to coercive measures violating the rights of the ordinary citizens. Above all else, the DMP bosses should not misconceive that this one and a half kilometer road is the whole of Dhaka City. They must give-up this piece-meal approach forthwith.
To fend jaywalking, it is recommended that the authorities reshuffle the existing traffic system by prioritizing walkers by incorporating Zebra Crossings, neat and secured over bridges and underpasses, and wide walkways free from dirt, construction materials and hawkers. Stopping jaywalking is imperative to limiting road accidents, but it is impossible to prevent unless pristine footpaths, Zebra Crossings, and secure and tidy underpasses and footbridges exist in the right places.
A research revealed that in Dhaka City around two crore people travel every day, of which 20 percent travel by walking even upto 2.5 km to reach their destinations. The metro-city of more than 15 million people has only 7.5 percent roads as a percentage of its total area (for a standard city, the minimum road requirement is 25%) of which 30 percent is occupied by hawkers, salesmen and shopkeepers. Thus, it is presumably destined to be a hostile city to the pedestrians. More than 14 lakh vehicles ply in this city’s 1,286 km long road network where footpaths are not available on 44 percent roads, and 82 percent footpaths are in poor condition, another research estimated. At least 31 percent of the pedestrians claimed that they were hurt while walking on footpaths due to several hurdles, potholes, open manholes and roadside construction works. Delay in construction works of several flyovers has further worsened the road conditions of the city.
City planners, the Communications experts in particular, opined that the DMP Drive is not a well planned or thought of one as it has, perhaps, been designed to boost up DMP’s lost public image and trust for its high-handed activities over the past years using the anti-jaywalkers drive move as a publicity stand.
Even in this damage control act, the DMP men, as alleged by the rights activists, resorted to coercive measures violating the rights of the ordinary citizens. Above all else, the DMP bosses should not misconceive that this one and a half kilometer road is the whole of Dhaka City. They must give-up this piece-meal approach forthwith.
To fend jaywalking, it is recommended that the authorities reshuffle the existing traffic system by prioritizing walkers by incorporating Zebra Crossings, neat and secured over bridges and underpasses, and wide walkways free from dirt, construction materials and hawkers. Stopping jaywalking is imperative to limiting road accidents, but it is impossible to prevent unless pristine footpaths, Zebra Crossings, and secure and tidy underpasses and footbridges exist in the right places.
