Going backwards?
It may sound weird, but it is a reality. It takes almost 2 hours to travel from Kalabagan to Banani and vice verse on all days except on holidays by a motorized vehicle. In the sixties we could go to Banani within half an hour on a rickshaw from Kalabagan and within 10 to 15 minutes by a car.
Have a look at any of the developed countries of world. In the sixties where the travel time was 2 hours, they are now covering that distance within 10 to 15 minutes. Exactly the opposite has happened in Bangladesh. Can I comfortably say that Bangladesh is going backwards whereas the world is moving forward.
In the developed countries people move from one place to another in private cars. Whereas in the past before arrival of motorized vehicles they were moving on horse-back or horse driven carriages. In Bangladesh since decades people have been travelling on rickshaws and they continue to do so. This particular issue is a bottle-neck in the improvement of the transportation system. Whenever this issue is raised, it is argued what shall happen to the poor rickshaw pullers, if rickshaws are not allowed on the city roads. May I please ask them what happened to those who used to ride on horse-back or horse driven carriages?
Well necessity is the mother of invention, once the rickshaws are made off limits on the city roads, they shall come up with new ideas for their own survival. They do not have to starve to death, as the horse riders did not in the west.
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