A WB supervision mission has recently submitted a draft aide-mémoire to the government expressing satisfaction over the implementation of the electronic signal project, which is among 19 schemes under the DUTP.

The mission visited various project sites and met officials of the implementing agencies, project consultants and other stakeholders from February 20 to March 2.

The $290 million DUTP, designed to improve urban transport infrastructure and services, and to address long-term transport planning, coordination and institutional issues in the Dhaka metropolis, started in June, 1999 and concluded in March this year.

In the report the WB mission rated the whole project as 'moderately unsatisfactory' but regarding traffic signals it says, "The mission was impressed with the progress that had been achieved in the previous six months, in clearly difficult circumstances.

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City dwellers also express satisfaction over the installation of the signals as movement of traffic has increased and travel time of the commuters has reduced.

"Before the installation of electronic signals I could not go to Azimpur from Asad Gate even in an hour but now it takes only 15 minutes. The volume of traffic is same but now we can save time," said Ataur Rahman, who runs a shop in Azimpur.

"Can you imagine I drive my car along the Mirpur Road at 3:00pm at 45 kilometres per hour!" he exclaimed.

Traffic congestion at some busy and complex intersections such as Sonargaon, Farmgate, Bangla Motor, New Market and Science Laboratory has dramatically eased because of the modern traffic signal.

However, experts said the city does not enjoy the maximum benefit of the system as some busy intersections have been left out of the plan. Electronic signals have been installed at Fakirerpool, Shapla Chattar, Gulistan and Topkhana intersections while the traffic at the busy Dainik Bangla is still controlled manually.

"This is a very important intersection as three roads run through the commercial hubs of the city and the other one leads to the Bangabhaban. How can such a point be ignored?" asked an official of DUTP asking not to be named.

He said to filter city-bound vehicles this system has to be introduced at all entry points of the capital. In the north of the city, there is no electronic signal at Abdullahpur, Jasimuddin Road and in front of Zia International Airport.

In the southeast of the city, Jatrabari and Sayedabad intersections do not have this system while the first one has been installed at Ittefaq intersection. No electronic signal has been installed at Mirpur-10 while Mirpur-1 enjoys the system.

"There are nearly five busy intersections along Satmasjid Road in Dhanmondi but not a single signal has been introduced on this road," said Raihana Islam, a Dhanmondi resident.

According to the traffic department, the signal has to be installed at 276 intersections. City experts say some important spots have been left out when the plan was made. "If the city does not have coordinated and integrated signalling system, commuters will not get the maximum benefit of it," said the DUTP official.

Electronic traffic signals were first introduced on experimental basis at 10 intersections from Shyamoli to Panthapath in 2002 by Micro Electronics Limited. Signal lights in these points are not clearly visible which causes frequent accidents. Moreover, the maintenance of these signals is also poor.

Shine Enterprise, a local company later installed electronic signal, supplied by ATS Technology from Austria and Australia, at 59 points between March 2004 and March 2005. Total cost of the project is around Tk 14 crore.

The first signal was inaugurated at Gulshan 1 and 2 intersections on June 28 last year while the last one was opened on March 22 this year at Mohakhali rail crossing.

Sources at the DUTP allege commuters do not enjoy utmost benefit, as the lanes are not marked, vehicles indiscriminately change lanes and drivers do not follow the stop line. Traffic police at many points are still seen controlling traffic manually.

"We have to stop illegal parking, roads have to be made rickshaw-free and finally we have to create awareness among the citizens if we want to see the electronic signal system effective," said Khabir uz Jaman, senior supervisor of Shine Enterprise while working at Bijoy Sarani intersection with his team.

"A number of Bangladeshi technicians working in Singapore in traffic signal project have come back and joined us to implement the project," he added.

Fourteen field-level supervisors of Shine Enterprise check every point round-the-clock. They said the only problem they face is the frequent power cut. To avoid this crisis the company has installed UPS at all the points, which has two-hour emergency backup.

Cables and lights are being stolen. Cables from five intersections have been stolen since the installation of the system. Moreover, rats have also eaten up a huge amount of cables.

City experts mentioning design error in the plan said that at several points -- Bijoynagar and Kakrail, Curzon Hall and Kadam Chattar, Elenbari and Rangs crossing -- electronic traffic system creates problem as they are very close to each other.

"We have to readjust these signals to solve the problem," said one official at the DUTP.