Why bikes on footpaths?

A collage of pictures on the back page of this paper published on February 14 speaks volumes about a ban on motorcycles plying footpaths for pedestrians. This is hardly surprising because the photos show a policeman riding his motorcycle on the footpath that runs alongside Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue. Hence, when the very enforcers are caught on camera breaking the law, what moral authority do the police have to enforce a ban which they themselves do not obey?

It is not simply the media that has been crying hoarse for years about freeing footpaths in Dhaka city from straying vehicles. While physical encroachment is one thing, what every pedestrian in Dhaka can agree on is that these motorcyclists act as if it is their God-given right to speed along footpaths with little regard for people walking on them. Serious accidents are seldom witnessed primarily because pedestrians have mastered the art of jumping away from these marauding two-wheelers whizzing along without batting an eyelid about who they may hit.

Who ensures free movement of people in this city? Given the fact that there are few walkways and footpaths to begin with (in a city the size of Dhaka), precisely what is to be done when even these are overrun by errant vehicles? This is a classic case about a law that has been passed and utter disregard by city residents riding two-wheelers to obey it because there is no agency to enforce it.