IT is not our wealth which built our roads, but roads which built our wealth," John F. Kennedy, the late US president once said. Given the condition of our roads, it is not surprising that Bangladesh has been so slow to develop. With maintenance aspect totally ignored and drainage system abysmal, the roads in Dhaka city present a horrible look. Despite the fact that huge fund was allocated in the past years towards building new roads or improving the already poor condition of the roads, nothing tangible has come up.
With vehicle population booming every year and road condition deteriorating fast, Dhaka city with its innumerable lanes and by-lanes has turned into a veritable mess. The appalling condition of the roads, though much talked about but hardly attended to, has now assumed an alarming proportion. Much of the roads from one end of the city to the other, mostly under the constant load of traffic and due to non-repair, have become pulverised, cratered, potholed and for long stretches reduced to mere dirt tracks. The road scene in Dhaka city is something awesome and precisely speaking, a journey to either office or business centre or market place or hospital is literally hellish. A survey conducted in the recent past on vehicle movement, mostly cars and buses, revealed that the average speed for a car or a passenger bus carrying 30 passengers was just 20 kmph. To speed up things, experts suggest building expressways or four-lane divided carriageways on high traffic density corridors. As state-run road building or maintenance activities has almost come to a halt, experts want private entrepreneurs to invest in the construction and recover costs through a system of BOT( build, operate and transfer) basis. For better maintenance of roads within and outside Dhaka , electronic toll collection systems, operating in many advanced countries like the US that automatically collect coins and raise gates, may be installed.
And on such roads traffic congestion, noise and air pollution, jammed road sides with indiscriminate parking are some of the hazards contributing to unusual delay in the journey from anywhere to anywhere of the city. Commuting in the city is almost like buying a one way ticket to hell. Mass transit system perhaps a way out. No doubt it costs a big fund but big cities are opting for it. In India, Kolkata has a metro rail and Bangalore and Jaipur are planning 'light rail transit systems' that will have electrically driven rail carriages plying on raised platforms. In the present catastrophic situation that baffles and bewilders citizenry every day, the capital planners might think of introducing "high speed tram network" that would ply from one end of a flyover to the other on its designated side without creating traffic jam. If efforts are taken up to introduce mass transportation through withdrawal of taxicabs, tempos and minibuses carrying fewer than 30 passengers from the main roads, there could be some easing of the traffic congestion.
Other than the influx of new cars that are hitting the road everyday, there is huge increase in the number of rickshaws, most of which, allegedly unlicensed and covering 21.9 sq.ft per person compared to one third of the space for a bus passenger. This unrelenting increase in the number of rickshaws has further added to traffic jam and congestion at busy intersections like Mohakhali, Farmgate, Sonargaon, Gulistan, Hatkhola, Green Road , Elephant Road and Dhanmondi crossings. On such busier intersections and in at least 10 rail crossings in the city, vehicles are caught in traffic snarls that often last 30 minutes at a stretch in one location. Other than being late in offices, workplaces or any scheduled appointment, mental disgust, exhaustion in these hot summer days and loss of effective man hours is a colossal drain on the resources for the whole nation. On the 220 km road space covering 340 sq km city area from Narayanganj to Savar, the volume of buses, trucks, cars and three wheelers is growing at a breathtaking pace. The total number of vehicles on the city road is about 7.5 lakh, at least five times the number it was in 1990. The weight of freight moved on the city roads in recent times has jumped at least 50 times in this period and the number of passengers leapfrogged 70 times.
The major cause of congestion and road jam can be attributed to lack of judicious land use or city's scarce road space. Transportation plan in big cities are done through appraisal of 'travel demand management' that aims at reducing trips in congested parts of the city. This important tool aims at reducing the impact of traffic by influencing people's travel behaviour. TDM can be achieved through growth management, road pricing, auto-restricted zones, parking management, ride sharing (car pooling), alternative working hours (staggered hours, flexible time, compressed work week). In Dhaka city, it seems there is no parking policy in force. With road space blocked by a fleet of cars on both sides along commercial buildings and business centres at Motijheel, Gulshan, Banani, Dhanmondi, New Market , Hatirpool and Elephant Road, traffic movement comes to a grinding halt causing unceasing congestion.
City roads constitute less than 10 per cent of the country's road network but carry as much as 50 per cent of the vehicular traffic. With such an overload, maintenance naturally is a nightmare. The problem, as such, is posed by the rapid deterioration of the road-top or the macadam which is stingily laid. With advancement in technology, road engineers are looking for economic ways of road repairing. One technique is this : instead of just spreading a fresh layer of bitumen, the existing layer is recycled. Bitumen trains, as these are known, scrape off the old layer, assess how much reinforcement is required, add the stuff and re-lay the road. This way almost 30 per cent of the cost can be saved. Meanwhile, the technology of the ubiquitous road roller has also changed. The discovery -- that a vibratory motion introduced in the wheels helped compact fresh bitumen better -- has meant that roads last much longer. Most road construction companies now have such rollers on their fleet.
What is most shocking, none of the utility organizations like DCC, RAJUK, WASA or Titas Gas has any coordination in its plans. To cite a specific example, Dhaka WASA completed the 'storm water pipe' laying job in Uttara sector nos. 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13 about two months ago and it was reportedly learnt that WASA made over the cost of damage and repair of the road to DCC at the beginning of their work. But shockingly, the work is yet to kick-start. And now the roads in these sectors are cratered, pot-holed and totally unfit for walking even, let alone travailing by either a car or rickshaw. Much to our dismay, we would discover that people in the country live in primitive conditions because the money meant for roads, electricity, and water lines has disappeared into the pockets of a vast network of corrupt politicians, officials, their kin and their ilk. It is only now after this CTG has taken over that some of them have been booked although their speedy trial and punishment are still a distant dream..
It hardly needs to be told that smooth, wide and motorable road connection would kick-start the economy, create jobs, increase business activities and enable phenomenal savings in fuel and cut loss in man-hour. Notwithstanding the fact that this sprawling metropolis is a city of dreams for many, yet for those inhabiting this capital it often becomes a city of nightmares. The nightmare is manifested by the mind boggling traffic jams and shortage of mass transportation made worse by the extremely poor condition of the roads plus piles of debris, rubbishes, wastes, bricks and pebbles blocking transportation services and pedestrian movement. There is virtually no care taken of city roads but strictly speaking maintenance holds the key to a road's structural quality and therefore its capacity to withstand traffic and ease congestion.
There is no doubt that road sector is most eligible to kick-start the economy. With immediate measures to ease traffic congestion, widening of the city roads as well as maintaining them in the proper condition, the gains will far outweigh the cost. Annual savings on fuel, spare parts and vehicle maintenance will be substantial. Trade would get a fillip as travel time is expected to be reduced by 50 percent. Yearly savings due to fewer accident and damage to property will be several crores of taka. The earlier government agencies, City Corporation and other utility organizations realize the path to growth the better.

Md. Asadullah Khan is a former teacher of physics and Controller of Examinations, BUET.