Editorial
Faulty signalling equipment
A major bottleneck in traffic management
Random malfunctioning of signals in the city is causing hindrance to movement of traffic. Nearly half of the 68 automatic traffic signalling units remaining out of order, regulating the flow of traffic to reduce congestion has become a difficult exercise. While the equipment is installed and maintained by the Dhaka City Corporation, the DMP traffic is responsible for the overall control of traffic movement. With that many signals conking out, a large number of traffic police has to be deployed to substitute for the mechanised operations. This is causing undue pressure on the traffic staff strength. Often driver of a vehicle or even a pedestrian is confused when policemen on duty give a go-ahead signal whereas the lights on the signal indicate otherwise. Besides, at times, one side of the traffic is often unduly held back for long before being given a green signal. This delay is particularly inconvenient for people travelling by hired public transport like the CNG operated three wheelers or taxis. They often end up paying much higher charges than they would have normally paid for a trip. It's a pity that in this high tech era we are wrestling with some rudimentary traffic equipment like the signalling system. What happens when we go a step forward and have CCTV in traffic intersections? Let these faulty traffic lights, therefore, be fixed and maintained regularly and the responsibility be given clearly to one single authority. It is also our impression that the traffic police who now thin out after 11:00pm or are not that much visible before 7:00 in the morning make their presence felt in some form at some of these hours. Traffic jams and bad traffic management have been serious concerns for the city dwellers for long. Let us therefore address this issue with due seriousness and commitment and provide some relief to the city dwellers who are already burdened with innumerable other problems of daily living.
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