Editorial
Flyover caught in mid-air
Get bureaucracy out of the way
Jatrabari flyover, contrary to public expectations, will not open any time soon. That is a depressing thought. And it becomes outrageous when the reasons for the delay are looked into. The overhead electric lines, supposed to be cleared by the authorities long ago, have remained untouched. In similar manner, hardly any effort has been made toward relocating the Phulbaria bus stand as a way of smoothening work on the flyover.
The authorities come up with the excuse that they are still trying to find space where the bus stand can be shifted. They ought to have done the job by December 2010. Because they could not, they were given a grace period till June last year. Nothing has happened. The chairman of Belhasa Accom and Associates Ltd, the concessionaire involved in the work on the flyover, tries to reassure people that the flyover can be opened in the next two months. That is hard to understand, though. As for the overhead cables and poles which need to be repositioned along a 200-metre stretch, the problem persists.
Not even reminders from the Prime Minister's Office and a series of decisions reached at crucial meetings have been able to compel the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority, Dhaka Power Distribution Company Ltd, Titas Gas and Bangladesh Telecommunication Company Ltd in ensuring that impediments get out of the way of the flyover.
In Jatrabari, we have only a fresh new instance of bureaucratic red-tape. Must this go on?
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