Make streets safer for pedestrians
Speakers demand at coffin rally
Eleven organisations, including Poribesh Bachao Andolon (Poba), bring out a coffin procession from Faculty of Fine Arts of Dhaka University yesterday demanding safe roads for pedestrians. Photo: STAR
Speakers at a discussion said yesterday that on an average, one pedestrian died in road accidents in the capital everyday while several others were injured and left with disabled limbs. The accidents stem from a lack of usable pavements and sufficient pedestrian zones, which reflect the authority's indifference to making Dhaka safe for walking, they added. The discussion and a coffin rally were held before the Fine Arts Faculty of Dhaka University demanding safe streets for pedestrians. Poribesh Bachao Andolon (Poba), Families United Against Road Accident, Nagorik Odhikar Sangrakhkhan, Pratyasha Madak Birodhi Sangathan, Dhaka Cycling Club, Orunodoyer Torun Dal, Initiative For Peace (IFP), Bangladesh Centre for Human Rights and Development (BCHRD), Green Mind Society, Jagori and WBB Trust jointly organised the programme. While around 37 percent people walk to their destinations, commuters who use public transports also had to begin and end their commutes on foot which means that 95 percent of the city's commuters were pedestrians, the speakers said. Nothing was being done to make the streets safer for these pedestrians while huge money was being invested to make the city better for motorists, they added. President of Nagorik Odhikar Sangrakkhan Hafizur Rahman Mayna chaired the programme. Chairman of Environmental Science Department of North South University Dr ATM Nurul Amin, Bidhan Chandra Pal of Jagori and Pratyasha General Secretary Helal Ahmed, among others, spoke.
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