Dhaka is unique!
K M Zubair Sadeque, Dhanmandi, Dhaka
Dhaka can boast of having some unique characteristics. The car honks are unique (I don't think people in any other major city honk so frequently and so unnecessarily). Unique is the plying of vehicles of all sorts (including the non-mechanised ones) on the same lane having total disregard to traffic signs and rules (automated traffic signals do not work here, we need traffic police at every intersection). The roads in Dhaka during the monsoon season are another unique characteristics of Dhaka.With the hot spell over, the Dhakaites could have sighed a relief. Unfortunately, there is no respite for the Dhakaites. With the arrival of the monsoon, dilapidated conditions of the roads and poor drainage system are making major thoroughfares of the city unfit for normal movement of traffic. Having total disregard to the fact that any work will have to be stopped during the rains, the utilities started digging large trenches on the roads only to be left unfinished during the rainy season. The result? Some of the essential roads are closed or only partially functioning creating congestion in major thoroughfares of the city. The other day, I could not make my way to Central Road from Hatirpul because the middle portion of the narrow road was closed due to work by some utility company or maybe the City Corporation. I could not find a single signboard of any authority to make me aware of who was working in the area. There was no notice of any sort in the Hatirpul entrance of the road that could have alerted me of a road closure ahead. A simple sign of a road closure could have saved me the trouble of having to turn back my vehicle in the middle of the narrow road. Surely Dhaka stands unique in the world in so many ways! * * * Life in Dhaka is literally getting unbearable day by day. How long can we bear the pain? Why can't our country compete with the rest of the world? These questions have been hovering in our mind for a long time but unfortunately there is no one to answer us. The root cause of all the problems lie with the fact that our society has become so corrupt it has become virtually impossible to live with dignity. Ours is the most polluted city and still the authorities seem to be oblivious of the fact. The condition of the roads are pathetic and all the authorities concerned is engrossed in is installing new road dividers. Most of the traffic signals don't work and therefore the traffic has to be manned by incompetent traffic police. If things go on like this way, I'm afraid it won't take too long for the entire society to collapse. Syed Rashed Zaman, Dhaka
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