Things remain almost same
Traffic situation in the capital remained almost the same despite the authorities' actions to bring discipline in the otherwise disorderly public transport system.
Police filed more than 83,000 cases against errant drivers and vehicles, and also fined them over Tk 4.5 crore in the city in 10 days till yesterday, the last day of Traffic Week.
More than 400 rover scouts were deployed to make people aware of traffic rules. Transport owners and workers organisations also took some steps that include checking documents of vehicles and drivers.
All these developments came more than two weeks after school and college students began agitation for road safety following the death of two of their peers in a city road crash on July 29.
The two students of Shaheed Ramiz Uddin Cantonment College were killed on the spot as a Jabal-e-Noor Paribahan bus ploughed through a crowd while competing with another bus of the same company.
Following the students' agitation, the government, and transport owners and workers took up several measures to improve the situation on roads.
But still things have not changed that much with the authorities pointing out that the problems and mismanagement that continued for years cannot be removed overnight. They say it is important to create awareness among people so that they obey traffic rules.
Many buses continued to ply the city streets without legal documents while a number of drivers were found without valid licence. Buses picked and dropped off passengers on roads randomly. Many operators didn't operate buses for not having necessary documents.
People were still risking their lives to cross busy thoroughfares haphazardly. Bikers topped the list of traffic rule violators as many of them didn't stop at traffic signals and failed to show licences and valid documents -- all too common pictures on the city streets.
However, the student movement and subsequent police actions seem to have created awareness among a section of people with many of them turning up at Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) offices across the country to either update or get necessary documents.
Experts say police crackdown following a certain situation exposed poor condition of the transport sector. This warrants many more immediate steps, not only enforcement of rules, to bring order in this very important sector.
YESTERDAY'S SITUATION
In the capital's Farmgate, Karwanbazar, Shahbagh, Science Laboratory intersection and Manik Miah Avenue areas, scores of people were seen waiting for buses as the number of public transport was relatively low yesterday.
Whenever a bus came, people tussled to get into it. Buses picked and dropped off passengers on the main roads.
Many crossed the busy roads, ignoring the risk of being hit by a vehicle, though footbridges were just yards away.
However, some positive changes were also there.
Police were seen strictly enforcing the traffic rules as part of their 10-day special drive against errant drivers.
Most of the bikers were wearing helmets. There was also a drop in the number of vehicles using the wrong side of the road, and people were seen cooperating with police.
Mir Rezaul Alam, additional commissioner (Traffic) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), claimed that the Traffic Week saw a huge success as people became aware of the traffic rules.
All the quarters -- from government officials to media persons to common people --helped traffic police enforce the rules, which had not been possible in the past, he told this newspaper last night.
“We are happy. We want to create a culture where people will follow the law,” he said, adding that strict enforcement of traffic rules will continue.
Prof Moazzem Hossain, a former director of the Accident Research Institute (ARI) at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, said it's very clear now that the number of unfit vehicles and drivers with fake licences is huge.
This special Traffic Week has exposed poor enforcement of traffic rules in the past, he said.
It, however, has also created awareness among people about traffic rules, and thus people in large numbers turned up at BRTA offices to either update or get necessary documents, he said.
Prof Moazzem said it is not possible to bring positive changes in transport sector with the enforcement of law alone. Rather, the government should immediately introduce scientific traffic management system, provide training to drivers, and establish proper signalling system and terminal management.
“We have a long way to go as we are yet to start many things to bring discipline in the sector,” he told this newspaper.
ASSOCIATIONS CHECK DOCUMENTS
Vigilant teams of transport owners and workers checked documents of vehicles and drivers at several points in the capital for the sixth consecutive day yesterday.
On Manik Mia Avenue, a vigilant team led by Khondaker Enayet Ullah, general secretary of Dhaka Road Transport Owners' Association (DRTOA), checked documents of vehicles as well as drivers for around two hours from 12:30pm.
They handed over several underage drivers to a BRTA mobile court, which was also conducting a drive in the same area.
Many of the bus drivers were carrying licences for light or medium vehicles whereas they were supposed to have licences for heavy vehicles.
Enayet Ullah said the team wrote down the problems of the buses and would issue show-cause notices to the bus owners.
He said that as per their previous decisions, they would not allow anyone run services on the basis of daily contracts with drivers and helpers.
“We will resume our activities after the Eid vacation, and continue those until the practice of daily contracts is brought to a total stop,” he told reporters.
On August 8, DRTOA decided to abolish the system of daily contracts with drivers and helpers.
Many bus owners rent out their vehicles to drivers on daily contracts. In this practice, drivers pay a specific amount to the owner, and to maximise profits, they drive recklessly to make as many trips as possible in a day.
Meanwhile, the mobile court led by Executive Magistrate Mazharul Islam filed cases against 15 vehicles and fined those Tk 16,000 for violating traffic rules.
The court also jailed two middlemen for various terms.
Another BRTA mobile court conducted a drive in BRTA's Ekuria office area. It filed cases against 21 vehicles and also fined those Tk 45,500 for violation of traffic rules.
TRAFFIC WEEK ENDS
Police have claimed that the Traffic Week which ended yesterday had been successful.
Contacted, Mohammad Sohel Rana, assistant inspector general (Media and Public Relations) at the Police Headquarters, said the law enforcers fined errant drivers and vehicles over Tk 7 crore for violating traffic rules across the country in the last 10 days.
The Traffic Week, which began on August 5, was extended for three days till yesterday.
The traffic policemen lodged cases against 180,249 vehicles for breaking traffic rules in six metropolitan police areas, and eight ranges and highway ranges, according to a statement of Bangladesh Police.
Besides, legal action was taken against 74,228 drivers for breaching traffic rules such as driving vehicles on the wrong side, using hydraulic horns and not carrying proper documents, it mentioned.
The law enforcers also seized 5,418 vehicles, it added.
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