THE nuisance that errant motorcyclists create on footpaths is no less severe than the hazard that they create on roads. According to different studies, motorcyclists tend to violate traffic rules more than others while motorcycles are consistently found to be involved in the maximum number of road accidents every year. A photograph that 抖阴精品 published on April 28 shows that dozens of motorcycles are parked illegally on the footpath next to the Gulshan-Tejgaon Link Road. Such illegal parking on pavements is one of the many nuisances and obstructions that motorcyclists create in Dhaka and other cities. Besides illegal parking, many motorcyclists often run on the footpaths, much of which are already occupied by illegal vendors. These practices make it difficult for pedestrians to use the footpaths. Dhaka roads are already very unfriendly for pedestrians, especially those with disabilities, because of the lack of proper footpaths along almost all major roads, flawed structure and the illegal grabbing of space by vendors and their makeshift structures; the illegal parking and plying of motorcycles on the footpaths only add to the woe of the pedestrians.
What is worrying is that when the issue of illegal parking on footpaths and roads 鈥� a large number of other vehicles are also seen illegally parked on major roads in the capital 鈥� has made the headlines countless times, the authorities have hardly taken any effective measures to free the footpaths and roads from illegal parking. It appears that an ill-conceived parking policy, a lack of parking space and a lax enforcement of traffic rules have encouraged the illegal parking of vehicles, which has made Dhaka鈥檚 footpaths and roads narrower and traffic congestion unbearable. The authorities appear to have left the issue unattended for years, and, as the number of vehicles has increased, the problem has only exacerbated. The city authorities took a number of initiatives to reclaim the roads and footpaths from illegal parking and occupation but could not sustain the reclamation as they did not offer alternative parking spaces. Within months of every reclamation raid, the situation goes back to square one. For example, the Dhaka North City Corporation reclaimed what is now called Mayor Anisul Huq Road at Tejgaon from encroachment in December 2015, which helped to ease one of the worst traffic congestions. But the reclamation was not sustainable and vehicles began to illegally occupy the road within months of the reclamation. 聽
The authorities should attend to the issue of illegal parking on footpaths and roads earnestly and properly enforce the traffic law to end this nuisance and hazard. The authorities should also free the footpaths from illegal occupation.
