Illegal occupancy

A report in this paper has found that spaces under most of the flyers in the city are being illegally occupied by parked cars as well as makeshift shops choking the roads and adding to Dhaka's insufferable traffic congestion. What's more they are nullifying the purpose of these flyovers which was to relieve traffic snarl-ups. Apart from this latest encroachment, one third of all roads in this city are occupied by random on-street parking which leads to roads being narrowed leading to more traffic congestion.

Photographs published in yesterday's The Daily Star illustrate these findings. The pictures show vehicles being repaired and open markets set up under various flyovers of the city. One picture shows how cars have been illegally parked on both sides of one of the busiest roads in Dhaka leaving only a narrow strip for vehicles to ply.

These have become familiar sights for the city dweller. So why haven't the authorities done anything about such blatant encroachment of public roads and spaces? The answer clearly lies in lax law enforcement and unavailability of proper parking spaces in commercial buildings.

The city corporation apparently does not have enough manpower, resources and police support to check this illegal practice according to one of the city mayors. Traffic police say that despite fining offenders and seizing vehicles illegally parked, they cannot cope with the number of offenders.

All this points to two basic solutions. Firstly, there has to be a stepping up of law enforcement personnel in removing cars, shops etc from under the flyovers regardless of political affiliation. Secondly, all commercial establishments must provide adequate parking space either inside their buildings or outside. The city corporations, police, Rajuk and urban planning experts have to put their heads together to make this happen.