Dhaka's traffic congestion
The city's main roads do not have any rickshaws to be blamed for the traffic congestions. For example, five kilometer distance from Mohakhali Flyover to Dhanmondi road # 32 on a Friday takes 10 minutes, whereas the same route on a weekday will take around 45-60 minutes. Now I do not see any rickshaws for this congestion. It's simply because we have too many vehicles on the roads and the number of roads are limited. Moreover, the drivers of the cars (as majority of the vehicles plying on this particular route are cars) need to be educated by the person(s) sitting on the backseat “The owner(s)”. Now the question is, is the car owner himself aware of the traffic rules? I personally believe they are not. I have seen many times the owner honking for no reason on a red light, taking over another vehicle from the wrong side and parking the car in a no parking zone.
I believe the traffic police are also to be blamed and should be educated about the traffic rules. Starting from the officer to the constable, they have very little idea about the rules. The licensing authority should be trained as well. To do all these, the government should bring in experts from the United Kingdom. The UK has a unique system on the streets.
I personally believe we also need to develop the habit of walking. Though some of the roads have pavements but again the conditions are very poor for a pedestrian. The pavements need to be wider and cleaner and the surface has to be plain for the pedestrians. By walking a certain distance we can also avoid the use of a vehicle and help reduce the carbon dioxide.
Rickshaws cannot be removed from the streets of Dhaka in the near future as economically the country is not strong enough to get these poor pullers another job.
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