Left in the dark
It opened to the public a year ago to this week, with promises of breathing life into suffocating traffic in one of the more congested parts of the capital. But the Moghbazar-Mouchak flyover has been left in the darkness -- literally and figuratively -- for months on end, putting commuters at risk and no one to be held liable.
Only a few months after it was opened to traffic, signal lights on the 8.7km flyover have stopped functioning, as have the street lights and even CCTV cameras -- thanks to petty theft of cables.
Commuters are compelled to move along the flyover every night risking their lives. Besides, with the traffic lights installed at key points non-operational added to the recent withdrawal of traffic police from it, the flyover has been left highly prone to accidents.
DMP undertook a project worth Tk 35 lakh to bring the flyover under CCTV surveillance in late 2017, in an attempt to monitor traffic movement and criminal activities, but thieves also stole the cables connecting these cameras.
A day after Communication Network Solution (CNS) Bangladesh installed fibre optic and electric cables from Moghbazar to Satrasta on midnight of April 1, thieves stole wires worth Tk 10,000.
CNS filed a case with Tejgaon Industrial Police Station which arrested five persons including a scrap metal businessman.
This correspondent also obtained a copy of another FIR, filed with Ramna Model Police Station on April 11, 2018, accusing two teenagers for stealing about 7.5kg copper wire worth Tk 4,500, from the flyover.
But that was the end of that development, and nothing has been done since then to fix the problem in over six months. Instead, the flyover is tangled in an "identity crisis" of ownership.
Local Government and Engineering Division (LGED), who built it at the cost of Tk 1,219 crore, is yet to hand over the structure to its rightful custodians -- Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) and Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) -- over a "demarcation" issue.
Project Director of the flyover Sushanto Kumar Biswas told The Daily Star earlier this month that city corporations are supposed to look after the flyover. “We've completed all procedures, but the city corporations are not taking it over,” he claimed.
Preferring to be unnamed, high-ups of two city corporations of Dhaka said they are not taking the responsibility of the flyover due to demarcation complexities between DSCC and DNCC.
Part of the flyover passes through DNCC and the other goes across DSCC, and there is no clear demarcation which portion of the flyover will be overseen by who.
Since the flyover's responsibility is yet to be handed over, it is the duty of LGED to look after it, they said.
However, pressed yesterday about when the issue might be resolved, Sushanto Kumar Biswas said the responsibility will be handed over to the city corporations by November 5.
Talking to The Daily Star, DSCC's immediate past chief executive officer (CEO) Khan Mohammad Bilal and DNCC CEO Mesbahul Islam said the problems will be solved after the responsibility of the flyover is handed over.
Meanwhile, as the buck-passing continued, the multi-level flyover that connects different key points -- Rajarbagh-Malibagh Chowdhurypara; Rajarbagh-Banglamotor; Shantinagar-Malibagh Chowdhurypara; Shantinagar-Banglamotor, Mintoo Road-Tejgaon; Tejgaon-Moghbazar-Shantinagar; Tejgaon-Moghbazar-Malibagh Chowdhurypara-Rajarbagh -- remained a source of pain for commuters, particularly at night.
Considering it risky for traffic police to carry out their duty without traffic signals on the flyover where vehicles move fast, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) refrains from deploying police on the flyover, said Mofizuddin Ahmad, Joint Commissioner (South) of DMP.
As a result, accidents are not uncommon. “We often see glass shards [from windshields/windows of vehicles] scattered on the flyover,” said Ali Ahmed, a resident of Shantinagar area.
“It's riskier for motorcyclists at night. Often, the light of cars from the opposite direction dazzles my eyes. If there were street lights, the intensity of the beam of the cars would not be so blinding,” said a motorcycle rider Aminul Haque, who regularly uses the flyover.
Sohel Rana, a driver of a Labbaik Paribahan bus, said, “Traffic signals have been out of order for more than six months. It's dangerous to cross the intersection without signals.”
“I usually slow down at intersections to check for oncoming vehicles. But not everyone is cautious,” said Sohel, who has been driving buses for 10 years.
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