Rickshaw issue
I came across a letter from Mr. Sikander Ahmed in The Daily Star's “To The Editor” Column. His letter was nice reading apart from him being at loggerheads with Mr. Rahat of Malibagh on the rickshaw issue. It appears that he is extremely disappointed at Mr. Rahat for advocating banning of rickshaws in Dhaka main streets. I would like to request Mr. Sikander not to take things personally and try to understand the problem and react accordingly. In an example in one of his earlier letters he had stated that a fasting person would have to walk if there is no rickshaw. Really this cannot be a strong argument. In the old days there were no rickshaw here or elsewhere and not every Muslim had a horse or a camel but that did not stop them from fasting or crossing the desert during the month of fasting. Sure it was tough for them but they adapted and managed. The truth of the matter is that when a facility is not available people learn to adapt. Certainly, we are adapting to spiral price hike, poor law and order situation, intolerable traffic jam, global warming, etc., etc. We can complain about all we want but at the end we have to adapt because things won't change overnight.
I would invite Mr. Sikander to consider how much fuel and time are going to be wasted in traffic jams. The country is paying foreign exchange to import this fuel rendering the mass helpless and unable to reach their destination on time. Imagine what torture a student goes through when he is unable to arrive for his exam on time, not to speak of a patient fighting for life in the jam.
On the other hand I really could not understand the meaning of Prof. Rabbani's suggestion to garage one's car and travel in rickshaws for a few weeks as a test case. I would urge Mr. Sikander and Prof. Rabbani to consider going from Azimpur to Uttara or from Uttara to Motijheel in a rickshaw or rushing to the hospital with a seriously ill patient on a rickshaw driven by an elderly person, not to speak of considering how to accommodate the patient. Ambulances! The general mass cannot afford it and if they could how fast would it move behind a rickshaw in a narrow street. Do any of us really believe that there will be no jam once the city with no cars is flooded with rickshaws. Please see the situation in the old Dhaka roads where there are more rickshaws than cars.
The city with a few motor vehicles and lot of rickshaws is not ideal. A city full of motor vehicles stuck in a gridlock is also not desirable. Therefore, we do need the so called lollipops (elevated expressway, metro, circular rail and waterway, etc.) for better traffic movement. They should have been here years ago. Now the earlier, the better.
Simultaneously, new roads must be constructed to increase road space, bus drivers must be educated to drive slowly and follow rules, no double parking in commercial areas and in from of schools and coaching centres; every mall must have sufficient parking facilities, etc,. In my lifetime I long to see a rickshaw free Dhaka city and a better life for all those involved in this trade. Since I am not part of the government or the relevant bureaucrat all I can do is pray, may Almighty Allah give us a nice jam free Dhaka city and a better Bangladesh.
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