Illegal car parking chokes Gulshan

15 November 2008, 18:00 PM

Tawfique Ali

Pedestrians are forced to take to the main thoroughfare as the sidewalk of Gulshan Avenue is occupied with construction fencing and illegal car parking.Photo: STAR

Illegal car parking on the sidewalks and main thoroughfare chokes the entire Gulshan residential area making residents' life miserable every day. Authorities concerned, on the other hand, sometimes point finger at each other and sometimes talk of lack of manpower and inadequacy of law to tackle the situation. “Illegal car parking is causing serious impediment to public mobility in Gulshan,” said Riaz Ur Rahman, convenor of Gulshan Society zone-3. Illegally parked vehicles, construction materials and vendors occupy not only the main thoroughfare but also the internal roads leaving the residents in a nightmare. Despite a widespread public outcry against illegal parking, there has been no step to stop it. One of the major reasons behind perennial traffic congestion in the city is car parking occupying the main thoroughfares as it reduces road width, said a top Rajuk official. Gulshan residents expressed frustrations over insufferable congestion in the main thoroughfare and internal roads of the residential area invaded by big commercial houses like mobile telephone operators, shopping malls, super store, private banks, ice-cream parlours, convention halls, hotel, clubs and English medium schools. “It takes me around an hour to go from one end to another of the two-kilometre Gulshan Avenue by car because of illegal parking and consequent congestions,” said Shirin Shila, joint general secretary of Gulshan Society. Footpaths and even part of the main road of Gulshan Avenue remain occupied with illegal parking almost round the clock. Many of the said establishments do not have single provision for car parking, some of them have kept a nominal provision while others use parking space for moneymaking purposes, all in violation of existing building construction act and rules. Vehicles parked in two to three files occupy the public space. Dhaka City Corporation (DCC), Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) and Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) often tend to point finger at each other for the situation. Most of the city roads and their sidewalks belong to the DCC. Contacted, DCC Chief Estate Officer Md Khalilur Rahman said they try to keep the roads and footpaths free of illegal occupancy with available resources and manpower. “The traffic police have to take more initiatives to free the public roads,” he said. Deputy Commissioner of DMP Traffic (North) Saleh Mohammad Tanvir said Gulshan started as a residential area but over the time massive commercialisation has taken place without assessment of traffic impact and consultation with the traffic police authorities. He emphasised people's traffic education, saying traffic engineering, road management, and environmental issues are related with traffic management. “We can file cases against illegal car parking and penalise a driver or owner with at best Tk 500 to Tk 700 under the Motor Vehicle Ordinance of 1983,” said Tanvir. The law is outdated, he said adding that police authorities have proposed updating it. Traffic authorities also face shortage of manpower and logistics, Tanvir said. Habibur Rahman, director in-charge of Dhaka Transport Coordination Board (DTCB), said DTCB could not do much about rectifying illegal parking. “We have no executive role but we make suggestions to the DCC authorities on the issue time to time,” he said. The DTCB has a Regional Transport Committee (RTC), headed by the DMP commissioner, to take care of the city's illegal parking. Locals alleged the lanes and sub-lanes to their houses get so congested with traffic snarl-up caused by illegal car parking that it becomes almost impossible for them to move. They said that vehicles belonging to a big company in Gulshan occupy road no- 107, 112, 113, 95, 96 and other surrounding internal roads with long-hour car parking. Roads no-1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 and other adjoining internal roads remain occupied with vehicles of reputed banks, business houses and mobile telephone companies. A private bank has designated a part of road no-5 as its car parking ground. Though a residential house, an English medium school is run at the junction of road no-9 and 12. Vehicles of the guardians of the students even remain parked in front of residential houses for long hours.