Spare Eid travellers the nightmare

With Eid approaching and hundreds of thousands of Dhaka city-dwellers preparing to leave for the holidays, the possibility of severe traffic gridlocks at many key junctions remains a major concern. As a front-page report in this paper yesterday highlighted, there is a likelihood of traffic jams at several important highways due to ongoing development work, ferry service, rain, etc.

An estimated 80 lakh people are set to leave Dhaka for Eid holidays. But given the current state of traffic, especially in routes such as Dhaka-Chittagong highway which was terribly gridlocked for consecutive days earlier this month, there is little doubt that the movement of such a massive number of people outbound from Dhaka would lead to heavy traffic congestion. There are a number of factors to be addressed: road repair work, traffic control, rain, bad conditions of roads, poorly planned roads and bridges, just to name a few.

The government plans to finish repair work of all highways by June 8 but that is of little comfort as inefficiency in public works (including missed deadlines) has repeatedly led to commuters being the ultimate sufferers in the past. The government also plans to ban trucks and lorries on highways three days before Eid. These are good initiatives but it all comes down to proper implementation.

Bangladesh's traffic problem is multifaceted—one to which there is no quick fix. Long-term solutions lie in proper planning and infrastructure of road networks and building a storm drainage system, among other things. But some immediate solutions to ease congestion in highways, as Eid nears, are completion of development works, good traffic management, and coordination among all responsible bodies such as the police and roads and highways department.