Horror of Tejgaon traffic tangle
Urban planners are pointing fingers at the city corporation for the rough condition roads
Samiul Haque, on his way to Uttara from Banglamotor on Thursday, changed his usual route and navigated through Tejgaon hoping to avoid traffic on Banani road only to find himself stuck in gridlock for another few hours.
"I had no clue that the road condition was this terrible," he told The Business Standard.
Samiul is one of many who suffers regularly while moving through the Industrial Area that is home to 10 educational institutions in close proximity, the ENT hospital and numerous offices.
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All the under construction Tejgaon roads are full of construction materials scattered here and there, further interrupting vehicle movement.
With no dedicated parking space in the large area, and offices having little parking space, random parking of scores of vehicles adds to the roads becoming largely unusable leading to severe traffic congestion.
Moreover, at least eight rickshaw garages were found in the area.
"Even walking on the roads is difficult," said Urmila Ghosh
"The roads are not wide enough. Dropping my child to school turns into one hell of a trip everyday," she added.
Local shopkeeper Jamil Hossain pointed out that one of the key problems of the area is that it lacks a traffic control system.
Locals also blamed the lack of coordination between the city corporation and government agencies including Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority, BTRC, and the Dhaka Electric Supply Company, which engaged in back to back digging work in the area.
Dhaka North Chief Executive Officer Md Selim Reza told TBS that the drainage system of Tejgaon area was worse which was why the road construction took a long time.
"The sufferings of people will alleviate soon with the construction nearing completion," he added.
About illegal parking, he said they are going to introduce a smart parking system.
Ensuring coordination among various government agencies that engage in development works falls on the city corporation, said Adil Muhammad Khan, executive director at the Institute for Planning and Development.
Lack of competence among city corporation officials is a major reason behind the terrible road condition in Tejgaon, he remarked.
The city planner suggested the DNCC form local committees comprising locals to monitor the development works and make the developers accountable.
"The city corporation must be strengthened for this," he added.
