NEWSPAPERS all over the country reported on how rain from the past two days has caused havoc on our traffic all over the city and the gridlock virtually brought the traffic to a standstill on most of the streets. One of the most difficult issues were the dug roads and streets by utilities across the capital as it made movement difficult for commuters. Most school and office-goers and other commuters were late in reaching their destinations and many students appearing in ‘O’ and ‘A’ level examinations could not reach exam centres on time. The traffic jam was more of a problem in areas like Gulshan, Baridhara, Rampura and Badda as the police blocked several streets for the inauguration of Police Plaza Concord Bhaban at Gulshan-1 by the Prime Minister on Thursday. Outside Dhaka, small and mid-size launches and other means of water transport were stopped in Barisal and heavy rainfall caused water-logging in most parts of Chittagong city bringing civic life to a halt. Respite from the terrible heat seemed like the only positive outcome of the rain. According to reports, residents had to wade through inundated roads, streets and lanes and the weather forced suspension of ferry and launch services between the capital and 41 outlying destinations. The lightning strikes and landslides followed by the rain caused the death of at least eight people and left 13 other injured across the country.
Traffic has become a serious problem from the city dwellers and rain makes the situation unbelievably worse for commuters. The reasons behind this include inefficient traffic management, unfinished constructions on roads and restricted roads and traffic when PM and Ministers or foreign dignitaries travel around the city. The number of cars on the roads have increased to a large extent, which also causes a huge problem of people of the sprawling capital. It is completely unacceptable that the whole of Dhaka would come to a standstill because of rain and consequent waterlogging.
We have previously written about Dhaka’s unplanned urbanisation as being the main cause of problem and it is terrible that nothing is being done to improve or solve the problem. The natural drainage system has been destroyed either by land grabbers or filled with illegal dumping of waste not to mention how real estate developers have been allowed to indiscriminately earth-fill these retention areas. It is high time the new mayors of Dhaka and other relevant government bodies work together to address the issue of water-logging immediately. The situation is getting worse day by day and without an effective solution, the plights of the people of Dhaka city will keep increasing.
