Staff Reporter :
Despite having risks of fatal accidents, a good number of hats, bazars and other makeshift shops have been mushroomed up on both sides of roads and highways at many places in the country, posing a threat to public safety.
The latest (BUET) Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology research report showed that more than 1.5 lakh hats, bazars and makeshift shops have been emerged on both sides of the national and regional highways illegally.
The study also showed that most of the hats sit on two days in a week, while some bazars sit every day at morning and afternoon.
Though such risky and illegal structures are being run on the top of nose of the authorities concerned, no action is being taken in this regard, road and transport experts said.
They said the law enforcement agencies should take stern action against such activities for a safer and better highway.
The experts said as the beneficiaries of such structures earn huge amount by running these markets, they don’t take any initiative to extend market space to safer zone, avoiding the risky parts of roads or highways.
According to a Roads and Highways Department (RHD) data, the country has 3544.06-km national highway, 4278-km regional highway and 13247-km zilla road across the country.
Talking to The New Nation, Kazi Md Shifun Newaz, Assistant Professor, Accident Research Institute (ARI) of BUET, said the number of accidents on different roads and highways across the country has increased due to setting up of such illegal hats and bazars beside of the roads and highways.
He alleged that the concerned authorities like upazila and district administrations and the RHD don’t take any step on this regard.
Local traders set up their makeshift shops besides the roads and highways to sell various goods, including vegetables and kitchen items.
Similarly, Newaz said, consumers and spectators gather at the hats that poses danger for all of them.
He said that accidents would continue to claim lives until the government takes action to improve the highways condition. Ahsan Uddin Ahmad, Executive Engineer, RHD, Sirajganj said that they work over engineering matters. “This is why they don’t have enough time to look after such hats and bazars.”
He, however, said that they would take necessary steps to evict permanent installations, if those are set up on the both sides of roads and highways illegally.
Ahmad said the DC and UNO offices with the help of police can take steps to stop setting up of such makeshift shops on the both sides of roads and highways.
He further said that he would send letters to the presidents and secretaries of such hats and bazar committees giving warning of action.
Md Shoukat Ali, Executive Engineer of the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) said it is absolutely right that a huge number of hats and bazars have been established on both side of roads and highways. These illegal installations are responsible for the increasing number of accidents.
He said without help from the political representatives, such activities could not be stopped.
Observing the Dhaka-Tangail highways (Gabtoli to Elenga), The New Nation correspondent found such makeshift shops and bazaars at Aminbazar, Baliarpur, Hemayetpur, Genda (Enam Medical College), Savar Bazar, Jahangirnagar University, Nabinagar, Baipail, Chandura, Mirzapur and many other places.
President of Bangladesh Bus Truck Owners Association Md Faruqe Talukder told The New Nation that such makeshift shops are great challenges for the drivers. These markets force many drivers for a sudden hard break which many times causes accidents.
Extortion and robberies also took place especially on such hat and bazar areas, he said.
According to ARI of BUET, over 44,000 people have been by road accidents in last 16 years, but no comprehensive step is yet to be taken to tackle such deadly events.
The study also showed there has been an alarming rise in road accidents, especially on highways, in Bangladesh over the past 13 years.
Across the country, a total of 57 kilometers of highways are most accident-prone and 95 per cent accidents take place within this length, it added..
Of the total length, 16.5km are at the Dhaka-Chittagong highway, 8.8km on Dhaka-Aricha highway, 7.9km at Nagarbari-Banglabandha Highway, 5.8km on Daulatdia-Jhenaidah-Khulna Highway, 5.1km on Dhaka-Sylhet highway, and 2.6km on Gazipur-Tangail-Jamalpur highway, 2.2km on Bangabandhu Shetu approach road and 1.6km on Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway. The report said 40.90 per cent accidents take place at bus stands, 17.80 per cent at intersections, 28.40 per cent at kitchen markets and 13 per cent at other places.
Chairman of Nirapod Sharak Chai Andolon (NISCHA) and famous actor Ilius Kanchan told The New Nation that over 2,729 accidents took place in various parts of the country in 2014 that left 6,582 people dead and 10,777 maimed.
In the last 16 years (1998 to 2013), 51,000 road accidents occurred where more than 44,308 people died and another 39,866 injured. On an average, 2,769 people die in a year for road accident.
