One of the main causes for traffic snarls is the haphazard plying of all sorts of mechanised and non-mechanised vehicles.

The traffic department of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has failed to bring any discipline to the streets, as buses defy all norms and rules and haphazardly enforce stoppages anywhere they want. On-duty traffic sergeants usually ignore the matter as bus after bus keep blocking busy intersections picking up and unloading passengers.

At Nayabazaar in Old Dhaka, for instance, three to four traffic sergeants are constantly manning the small roundabout. Buses coming from Sadarghat or Dholaikhal move into the North South Road and invariably make stoppages right at the bend of the road, blocking the way of thousand other road users. But the traffic policemen seem oblivious to the problem and plights of commuters.

Similar scenes could be seen at numerous busy intersections, including Gulistan, Motijheel, Shahbagh, SAARC fountain, Farmgate, Bangla Motor and New Market.

Bus drivers blame the traffic indiscipline on competition among themselves for passengers. The traffic chaos takes place in the presence of the police who are well aware of the rules. "Buses should stop one after other in a row by the roadside," said a traffic police inspector of the DMP.

The roles of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) and Road Transport Committee (RTC) are also criticised. The organisations are issuing route permits without any plan and have ended up issuing too many permits for a single route, while the other routes have a small number of buses. As a result, the pressure is mounting on some major routes.

"The organisations give route permit to whoever applies for it, without considering the number of vehicles on the route," said a member of the BRTA advisory board.

Most of the bus drivers are not aware of the traffic rules, as the driving licences are more often forged.

The only measure taken by the DMP is to file cases and fine the transport owners for breaking the rules.

"From January 1 to June 30, traffic police have filed 1,43,836 cases against buses, trucks and private cars, and the government earned Tk 3 crore 45 lakh and 87 thousand from the fines," said a DMP source.

"We have only one way of dealing with this problem and that is to file cases and fine the transport owners," said Sheikh Mohammad Sazzad Ali, deputy commissioner of traffic.