Motorized vehicles again on DU campus

Heavy vehicles, public and private, ply through the Dhaka University area ignoring authorities' restriction order which came into effect after Shamima Akhter Happy, a DU student, was killed in a road accident on May 23. PHOTO: SK Enamul Haq

Due to the lack of acute monitoring, sufficient security guards and supervision of the authority, motorized vehicles are plying the Dhaka University (DU) area again neglecting the order of authorities while the students are feeling unsafe to move in the area.

The students allege that after every accident the authorities make the campus off-limits to heavy vehicles but the restriction is automatically withdrawn after some days and they (motorized vehicles) are plying the varsity area again.

After death of Shamima Akhter Happy on May 23, police stopped the entry of all kinds of motorized vehicles into the campus when students burst into protest against the authorities' negligence that leads to frequent road accidents.

"The university authorities have been delaying a complete ban on all kinds of motorized vehicles that causing accidents and injuries to DU students," said Reazul Islam, a fourth year student of Psychology Department in DU.

"There should be certain rules to stopped it permanently. In this connection, both DU and Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) should make proper action," said Nahar Afroj, a student of DU Public Administration Department.

Four security boxes have been set up at four entry points, which are at Shahbagh point, Nilkhet point, High Court point and Bakshi Bazar around the campus though there is no such security box at High Court point and Bakshi Bazar point. For this, buses and trucks take the opportunity and enter into Dhaka University (DU) area in order to make a short cut.

"Though we informed the authority about security box at High Court point and Bakshi Bazar point several times though the authority did not give importance to this issue," said a security guard at Shahbagh point.

"We have prohibited all kinds of vehicles to pass through the campus. If they violet the rules we will go for legal steps and we will set up two more security box in that place," said Dr. AFM Yusuf Haider, the Pro-vice chancellor of D.U.

After death of Happy the varsity authorities had a meeting with DCC and Traffic Department of the police and they are going to implement the decisions of that meeting.

"We discussed the issue of vehicular movement through the campus with the mayor and he (the mayor) gave an assurance of taking necessary steps immediately," said SMA Faiz the Vice Chancellor of DU.

"We have demanded that the City Corporation should install traffic signals on the campus," he added.

The Traffic Department assured the DU authorities of providing necessary traffic policemen to be posted at all the entry points. Besides, the traffic department suggested creating raised Zebra crossing and increasing the number of speed breakers on the DU roads.

"Raised zebra crossings force vehicles to slow down that helps people cross roads safely," said a high official of traffic department.

The university area was made off-limits to heavy vehicles such as bus, truck, pick-up van and microbus in 2002. The authorities hang notices to prevent the entry of such vehicles into the campus but the restriction is not maintained strictly.

As many as 12 students of the university were killed in road accidents in the last 10 years in and around the campus.