Shahin Akhter
The traffic signals at important and busiest intersections in the capital have now become only fossilised symbols of one of many ineffective traffic management efforts introduced by successive governments.
The existing traffic signal system in the city was installed around 14 years ago while the traffic police still control the traffic manually as the signals remain inoperative due to lack of maintenance and coordination among the authorities concerned.
Along with signals, other traffic management initiatives including semi-automatic remote controlled traffic signal system, timer countdowns and digital display boards installed at intersections at a huge cost have by now turned into mere showpieces.
Traffic engineering and rights activists observed that formal traffic system would not only reduce traffic congestion but also cut down on corruption.
On Tuesday, home affairs minister Asaduzzaman Khan inaugurated the traffic discipline quarter while Dhaka Metropolitan Police has taken initiatives to operate signals automatically through remote controls on airport-Zero Point corridor.
Traffic police, however, were seen controlling traffic manually at Karwan Bazar, Banglamotor and Zero point intersections.
‘Traffic signals are just showpieces, they are useless,’ said Zahidul Islam, an Agargaon resident.
‘While the slogan of the government is in favour of a digital Bangladesh, how come the traffic signals are yet to be digitalised,’ asked Mimi, a Rampura resident.
Back in 2005, seventy traffic signals were installed at major intersections of the city at a cost of Tk 13 crore under the World Bank-funded Dhaka Urban Transport Project.
In October 2009, the two city corporations in the capital installed timer countdown systems at 70 intersections and 30 new signals in the same year at a cost of Tk 96.71 lakh under WB funded Clean Air and Sustainable Environment project.
There are at least 17 big and 14 small digital display boards at key points of the city to remind drivers and others about traffic rules and speed limits that remain largely ignored after DMP had set these up at a cost of Tk 27 crore. All these now lie in a state of disuse.
‘The current condition of the signals is proof that we are yet to enter the era of formal operation of traffic signals,’ said Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology’s Accident Research Institute former director and civil engineering department Professor Moazzem Hossain.
The professor, an expert in the field of transportation and traffic engineering, observed that after 14 years of installation the signals were yet to be used following absence of relevant institutional infrastructures, funding and trained manpower.
‘Due to lack of continuity after implementation of projects everything in our country returns to the square one,’ he observed. He also demanded a sustained commitment for maintaining the traffic signals and coordination among all authorities concerned.
Passenger Welfare Association of Bangladesh secretary general Mozammel Haque Chowdhury alleged that the authorities concerned were not interested to make traffic system digitalised. If these signals became digitalised then there would be less opportunity for a section of dishonest traffic police to extort money from people, he argued.
‘For a positive change in the road transport sector, the government should have made these signals digital,’ he said.
DMP joint commissioner traffic (north) Mosleh Uddin Ahmed said they were yet to get remotes for the intersections under his area – Sonargaon, Farmgate, Bijoy Sarani, Jahangir Gate, Mohakhali, Kakoli, and Airport for operating remote control operated units.
Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority executive director Khandakar Rakibur Rahman said they would call a coordination meeting soon on overall issues related to traffic signals.
- Courtesy: New Age /Jan 16, 2019
