'District Buses Won't Get Access Inside Dhaka'

Initiatives have been taken to set up four inter-district bus terminals and bus depots at the entrances of Dhaka to reduce traffic congestion. Once these are built, no long-distance bus will be able to enter the capital.

Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) Mayor Barrister Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh said this in an interview today.

The DSCC mayor said, "We have taken various measures in coordination with the government and Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) to reduce traffic congestion in the capital." We have taken initiative to set up four bus terminals at Batulia in Birulia, Hemayetpur in Savar, Tegharia in Kamrangirchar and Kanchpur in Sonargaon under the bus route rationalization program. Once the terminals are ready, inter-district buses will not be allowed to enter the capital, which will significantly reduce traffic congestion.

Barrister Taposh said they have taken initiative to build a 6-lane road from Kalunagar to Postagola Bridge and are in the process of hiring a consulting firm for this purpose.

"We are implementing the Internet of Things traffic system," the mayor said, adding that he had widened the left lane and modernized 53 intersections to improve the existing traffic system.

He said the DSCC was working to revitalize the navigable routes around the capital to reduce traffic congestion in the capital, make them navigable and build a road network around the 18 newly included wards.

Barrister Taposh said there are plans to build a four-lane road along the canal river in 18 new wards after examining the necessary feasibility.

The mayor said they would widen the sidewalks to make it easier for people to walk to short-distance destinations. A project worth Tk 5 crore has been undertaken to renovate the areas under the three flyovers by evicting the illegal occupants. Illegal occupation of the areas below the flyovers has also caused traffic jams in the city. We will evict the illegal occupants by any means.

The mayor said that about 6 lakh non-mechanical vehicles like rickshaws and vans were plying on the city roads; which is playing a huge role in creating traffic jams in the city along with mechanical vehicles.

We have taken initiative to register non-mechanical vehicles and renew their licenses after 34 years. So far, 156,000 non-mechanical vehicles have been registered and given digital number plates, he said.

Noting that no unmanned vehicles will be allowed on the city roads without digital number plates, he said they would soon start work to enforce the ban on driving unmanned vehicles converted under the jurisdiction of the city corporation.

The mayor said they are working to ensure adequate parking space for vehicles, which is also a major obstacle to reducing traffic congestion in the city.

"Mechanical and non-mechanical vehicles are scattered on the city's main roads," he said. We have taken steps to set up separate parking lots for those vehicles and no one will be allowed to park their cars in unspecified places."

Barrister Taposh said they have taken the initiative of bus route rationalization to bring order in the public transport system. We are going to introduce BRR system from Ghatarchar to Kanchpur route with 120 buses on a trial basis from December 1 and after successful testing of BRR system, buses will run on 22 routes in 9 clusters under 22 companies.