Make roads friendlier for pedestrians
Three experts and road safety campaigners yesterday provided several recommendations, including limiting private vehicles and making roads pedestrian-friendly in the city, to a government committee working on road safety.
They also suggested taking strict actions against shopping malls without required parking space and specific action plan to stop extortion in the road transport sector.
They submitted their suggestions to the committee headed by former shipping minister Shajahan Khan at a closed-door meeting held at Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) auditorium. Although the committee invited several eminent persons, only three joined.
Amid growing concerns over frequent road accidents, the government formed the body on February 17, to give recommendations on preventing road accidents and bringing discipline in the road transport sector.
After the meeting, environmentalist Iqbal Habib said the committee, in its draft report, recommended keeping parking spaces in all shopping centres but that is not enough; rather immediate and strict action should be taken against establishments without parking spaces.
Analysing the length, width of the roads and volume of vehicles in the city, authorities must limit them until new roads are constructed, he said, adding that the committee should stress on controlling the number of private vehicles.
Iqbal, also an architect, suggested enhancing the capacity of government bodies like BRTA and Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority with professionals, and taking measures to eradicate the conflictive situation of roads and rail tracks inside the city.
If the conflictive situation can be resolved by construction underpass or overpass like what the authority did in Hatirjheeel, the number of accidents involving trains and traffic jams can be reduced, he added.
He also said no roadside tree should be felled without taking opinion from experts.
Journalist Syed Ishtiaque Reza emphasised on making Road Transport Act-2018 functional immediately.
The parliament passed both the Road Transport Act-2018 and Digital Security Act-2018 on the same day. Although the Digital Security Act has already been enforced, the government is yet to make the Road Transport Act operational, Ishtiaque, editor-in-chief of Gtv, said.
He also opined for using GPS system for proper monitoring of transport.
Mozammel Hoque Chowdhury, secretary general of Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity, said although interests of transport owners and workers got priority in the draft report, interests of general passengers were ignored.
“We asked the committee to take interest of passengers into consideration,” he said.
Shajahan Khan said they will consider the suggestions while preparing their final report within April 4. They are hopeful about submitting the report to the ministry on April 7, he said.
The committee has already prepared a draft report containing 111 recommendations and will hold a meeting with editors and media personalities on April 3.
Comments