e_Paper, Tuesday, June 20, 2017

6
TUESDAY, JUNE 20, 2017
DT
News
Plan after plan leaves no dent on traffic
• Shohel Mamun
SPECIAL
Numerous initiatives to control
the escalating traffic congestion in
Dhaka have fallen flat.
Regulations like the reversible
lane and the use of tire spikes
which had been implemented in
2009, did not last more than two
weeks. In 2012, Finance Minister
AMA Muhith introduced the idea
of forcing vehicles users to carpool,
in his budget speech in parliament,
but it was not subsequently implemented.
The carpooling system, which
is widely popular globally as a deterrent
to traffic congestion, is an
arrangement between people to
make a regular journey in a single
vehicle, typically with each person
taking turns to drive the others.
Through carpooling, travel expenses
are reduced, as is traffic.
In his speech, Muhith said: “In
order to ease traffic congestion, automobiles
should not be allowed to
ply the city roads unless three passengers
travel together. Otherwise,
extra toll should be imposed.”
“I believe if we can properly
enforce traffic rules and introduce
road pricing, traffic congestion will
not only be reduced, additional resources
will be generated for road
maintenance,” he had added.
When approached by the Dhaka
Tribune regarding the traffic ills
plaguing the city currently, Road
Transport and Highways Division
Secretary MAN Siddique said: “At
present, we are not planning to implement
any carpooling law, but in
future we might limit the number
of cars used by each family.”
Several officials whom this correspondent
spoke to, however, expressed
hope that the government
would soon be implementing a
rehabilitation program which was
recommended back in December
2016 by a sub-committee formed
by the Standing Committee on
Ministry of Home Affairs.
As per the recommendation,
instead of strict punishments for
those evading traffic laws, especially
reckless drivers who are either
uneducated or less educated on
traffic laws, the government should
detain the law evaders and provide
them with lessons on traffic regulations
and laws, beside driving
lessons, with the aim to lower or
eradicate unlawful driving.
“Dhaka Metropolitan Police
should establish a training centre
in Dhaka where drivers who break
traffic rules could be given driving
lessons and taught about traffic
Traffic congestion in Dhaka causes losses worth billions of dollars
MEHEDI HASAN
laws and regulations. They should
also receive counseling sessions.
The centre should be operational
from 9:00am to 5:00pm, seven
days a week,” states the recommendation.
In agreement with the recommendation,
DMP Traffic Joint Commissioner
Mosle Uddin said: “If our
drivers and citizens are not aware
about traffic rules, any newly implemented
traffic regulation cannot
be successful.”
The head of the sub-committee
which provided the recommendation,
Abu Sayeed Al Mahmood,
told the Dhaka Tribune that the
suggested rule was not exceptional
to Bangladesh as the US also had a
similar rule in place.
Bangladesh Sarak Paribahan
Malik Samity Secretary General
Khandaker Enayetullah, however,
disagreed with the plan. He felt
that training law evaders was an
unrealistic plan for our country and
is bound to fail.
“Most of the drivers evade traffic
laws, so it is not possible to select
drivers for training. To ensure discipline
on the roads, drivers need
overall training,” he explained.
In 2009, the Dhaka Metropolitan
Police (DMP) introduced a reversible
lane system on VIP road, Mirpur
road and the Mohakhali-Tongi
road to stop drivers from switching
lanes to avoid road congestion and
accidents. It also set 12 check posts
in different locations in the city to
monitor traffic law evasion and fine
law breakers Tk1,000.
Tire spikes were also installed
on Hare Road to prevent vehicular
movement in the wrong direction.
Not only did the reversible lane
rule not last more than two weeks,
when the tire spikes punctured the
tires of several cars belonging to
influential people, the DMP was
forced to desist from using tire
spikes as well. •
Iran calls missile attack
on Syria militants a
wider warning
• Tribune Desk
WORLD
Iran’s ballistic missile strike
targeting the Islamic State
group in Syria served both as
revenge for attacks on Tehran
earlier this month and a warning
that Iran could strike Saudi
Arabia and US interests in the
Mideast, an Iranian general
said Monday.
The launch, which hit Syria’s
eastern city of Deir el-Zour
on Sunday night, appeared to
be Iran’s first missile attack
abroad in over 15 years and its
first in the Syrian conflict amid
its support of embattled President
Bashar Assad.
It adds new tensions in a
region already unsettled by a
long-running feud between
Shia power Iran and the Sunni
kingdom of Saudi Arabia,
as well as a campaign by Arab
nations against Qatar.
Iran’s powerful Revolutionary
Guard, a paramilitary force
in charge of the country’s missile
program, said it launched
six Zolfaghar ballistic missiles
from the western provinces
of Kermanshah and Kurdistan.
State television footage
showed the missiles on truck
missile launchers in the daylight
before being launched at
night.
The Guard described the
missile strike as revenge for
attacks on Tehran earlier this
month. Five IS-linked attackers
stormed Iran’s parliament
and a shrine. That IS assault,
the first to hit Iran, shook residents
who believed the chaos
engulfing the rest of the Middle
East would not find them.
But the missiles sent a message
to more than just the extremists
in Iraq and Syria, Gen
Ramazan Sharif of the Guard
told state television in a telephone
interview.
“The Saudis and Americans
are especially receivers of this
message,” he said. “Obviously
and clearly, some reactionary
countries of the region, especially
Saudi Arabia, had announced
that they are trying
to bring insecurity into Iran.” •