The distance from Bahadur Shah Park in Old Dhaka to Raisaheb Bazar intersection is about 1 km. Even if the distance is short, the car should not move on that road. It takes more than an hour to reach from Bahadur Shah Park to Raisaheb Bazar Mor. He boarded the bus in front of Jagannath University around 11:00 PM and got down at Gulistan at 1:10 PM. In this, 1 hour has passed from Bahadur Shah Park to Raisaheb Bazar intersection, said businessman Sakib Islam. He said that he has to travel this way regularly because there is a cloth shop in Gulistan. A lot of time is wasted in going from home to shop. Not only today, he has to suffer from traffic jams every day. He said that the reason for the traffic jam on this road is that the people of several institutions including District and Sessions Judge Court, District Commissioner's Office, Jagannath University, Kabi Nazrul Government College and Dhaka National Medical College travel through this road. At the same time, floating shops have been built on both sides of the road illegally occupying the car parking and footpaths of these establishments. The victim said that he suffered from crossing this road by bus, but there was no relief even if he walked.
Not only this 1 kilometer road, this situation was seen on most of the roads of Old Dhaka including Dayaganj to Gendaria Station, Jatrabari to Dayaganj Bridge, Postogola Bridge to Gendaria Thana, Northbrook Hall Road, Sadarghat-Gabatli road along Buriganga Par. At the same time, most of the roads in Old Dhaka are narrow. Where two private cars cannot go side by side. From Dholaikhal Tong Market to Kabi Nazrul College, Northbrook Hall adjacent to Paridas Road, the road is one and a half kilometers long and ends at Hemendra Das Lane, the width of which is not more than 10 feet. When two rickshaws move side by side, they often collide. Then there is no way for pedestrians to move. Traffic jam occurs when engine driven vehicles or private small cars enter this road. The tangle sometimes spreads across the road. This is how it goes year after year. This picture is not only in Dholaikhal Tong Market, Paridas Road or Islampur Road, but in all but two main roads of Old Dhaka. There are also roads where a rickshaw cannot enter. If two people walk together, there is a risk of collision. Again, numerous commercial establishments, houses, markets and educational institutions have been built along these roads. Dholaikhal Tong Market shops have many goods placed on the road.
This reduced the width of the road to half. Millions of city dwellers of old Dhaka are living through this. On the other hand, the footpath of Laxmibazar has become a mobile market. At the same time, millions of buyers and sellers come to Banglabazar to buy books, Islampur to buy cloth, Badamtali to buy fruit and Shyambazar to buy vegetables. At this time, the footpaths are occupied by hawkers, so the pedestrians have to walk on the main road. At that time the area became useless for traffic.
Suffering does not end here. The people of old Dhaka are fed up with garbage everywhere. Although the City Corporation announced that garbage should not be left in the open, it was found scattered in different parts of Old Dhaka. Even the garbage container of the city corporation placed on the road adjacent to the Dayaganj police box. Garbage heaps were seen outside these containers on the road.
Apart from this, no one obeys the instructions of the DSCC Mayor not to keep garbage in the container during the day. Cleaning workers were also seen bringing garbage from different places in the area. Heaps of garbage were seen on the road next to Shyambazar. Everything there is market waste.
Old Dhaka Shankharibazar, Tantibazar, Tipu Sultan Road, Narinda, Nawabganj Road, Lalbagh, Khaje Dewan, Chawkbazar, Mitford, Islampur, Jindabahar, Kasaituli, Nazirabazar, Kaptanbazar, Satrowza, Sutrapur, Hazaribagh, Chawkbazar, Bangsal, Kotwali, Shyampur , Kamalbagh and Kamrangirchar have thousands of dilapidated and abandoned buildings. People have been living in these areas for generations in dilapidated buildings that are hundreds of years old. One of the buildings is Edward Building of Sir Salimullah Medical College. Apart from this, the employees are living in several other high-risk buildings in this hospital compound. At the same time, the buildings of old Dhaka are close to each other. Most of the buildings are constructed in violation of Rajuk norms. As a result, these buildings are at risk of fire.
Dr. Adil Mohammad Khan, Professor of Urban Area and Planning Department of Jahangirnagar University, regarding traffic congestion in Old Dhaka, traffic congestion in Old Dhaka is a traditional problem. One of the reasons for this traffic jam is high population density. At the same time, most of the narrow streets and footpaths are occupied by illegals. Apart from this, all types of transport ply on the narrow roads. Due to lack of discipline in transport management, traffic congestion is being created.
To solve the problem, this urban expert said that the roads in old Dhaka should be brought under the plan. First, the one-way traffic. At the same time, it should be specified which roads will be used only by private cars, which transportable vehicles and which roads will be used only by non-mechanical vehicles. Secondly, to make the narrow roads pedestrian friendly. And to make old Dhaka livable, DAP has detailed description. If DAP is implemented, Old Dhaka will be operational.
ARS
