Evictions difficult ahead of polls: Obaidul Quader

Eviction drives against illegal establishments in the capital will be a tough job ahead of the general elections, said Communications Minister Obaidul Quader yesterday.
He was speaking as the chief guest at the inaugural session of a workshop on “Improving the Pedestrian Environment in Dhaka: Steps Forward”. The workshop was held at the Local Government Engineering Development (LGED) building in the capital.
The minister said eviction drives before the election might be protested by political leaders as they may think that such drives will affect people's voting.
Asian Development Bank (ADB), Dhaka North City Corporation, Gazipur City Corporation, Dhaka Transport Co-ordination Authority, LGED, Health-Bridge Canada and Work for a Better Bangladesh arranged the awareness building workshop, which also focused on the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project.
Quader said during his 17-month long term as the communications minister, he and his colleagues have showed little improvement in reducing traffic congestion in the capital.
An eviction drive against illegal establishments on the city's pavements will begin after an inter-ministerial meeting on June 9, said the minister.
Regarding road accidents, Obaidul Quader said reckless driving and pedestrians' careless walking are mainly responsible for the accidents.
The 20km BRT project, from Gazipur to Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, is expected to be used by over one lakh commuters and hence reduce traffic congestion in Dhaka, said David Margonsztern, urban development specialist of ADB.