Sunday, October 6, 2024

Pavements perpetuate pedestrians’ misery

Narrow, battered and occupied pavements in the capital city continue to pester the commuters with hardly any effort by the agencies concerned to improve the situation despite repeated orders by the Supreme Court.
Except a few well-paved footpaths with good width scattered in different parts of the city, almost all the walkways are broken and occupied by hawkers or goods spilled from adjoining shops.
Many of these walkways have turned to dustbin with garbage regularly heaped on them. Many others are used as car parks.
Most pavements built along Rampura DIT Road, Shaheed Sangbadik Selina Parvin Sarak, Satmasjid Road, Mirpur Road, Shewrapara Road and Green Road, in areas such as Farmgate, Dhanmondi, Mirpur 10 and 11, Moghbazar and Karwan Bazar, along Karwan Bazar to Hatirpul Bazar and Azimpur to the Science Laboratory are either occupied or damaged or too narrow to walk.
This year the High Court came up twice with directives to free the pavements.
On February 26 it directed the home secretary, police and two city corporations to remove the illegal structures from the pavements in the area between Zero Point and Sadarghat to allow pedestrians to use them.
On March 5, the court further asked the Dhaka Metropolitan Police and two city corporations to prevent motorbike riders from riding on the footpaths.
In addition, they were also asked to remove all hoardings from the footbridges in the city and submit within a month a report on the number other details of the pavements in the capital.
‘Freeing footpaths of hawkers is a matter to be decided politically,’ said Shamsul Haque, state minister for home, who also claimed that the authorities were taking action to make the city pavements pedestrian friendly.
Inspector general of police Hassan Mahmood Khandkar said that handicapped by manpower shortages, they could not take adequate measure to keep the walkways free.
About complaints that policemen get bribes for allowing traders to occupy footpaths, he said they needed specific allegations to take action in that direction.
Referring to Section 66 of the Dhaka Metropolitan City Ordinance 1976, Save the Environment Movement secretary Syed Mahbubul Alam said, ‘This law fines Tk 100 for parking a vehicle unlawfully but the penalty is hardly imposed by the police.’
He also referred to other sections of the law that protected pedestrians’ right to safe walk but complained that the traffic authorities and others concerned hardly cared to ensure those rights.
Some experts, however, are for walkways that will provide enough room for pedestrians while facilitate the hawkers also.
Mahbubun Nabi, a professor of urban and regional planning department at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, said the city pavements should have at least 12 feet breadth.
‘A pedestrian walks with an average hourly speed of four miles. No footpath in Dhaka offers the adequate room one needs to walk comfortably with that pace,’ he said.
‘In countries that take care of their commuters make wide pavements to accommodate both pedestrians and hawkers. But there hawkers are not allowed in the busiest footpaths,’ the professor added.
He further stressed that footpaths should be better paved than the roads to attract pedestrians.
‘If roads are better paved it’s natural that people will move to the road from the pavement,’ he said.
‘Ideal pavements must be built in a way in which water can easily run down from them. And here most footpaths become muddy with the slightest of rain pushing the pedestrians towards the road.’
For Syed Mahbubul Alam, the walkways overlooking the Shishu Academy are examples worthy to be followed in this regard.
‘They house a large array of pottery and handicrafts while keeping room for a comfortable walk,’ he
said.
‘It’s time to come up with plans of pavements where the pedestrians will have their easy walks and the hawkers their bit of trade.’
According to the two city corporations of Dhaka, the city has around 389 kilometres of footpaths.

-With New Age input

Related News

GNB brings the UNESCO-Hamdan Prize for the first time in Bangladesh

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Good Neighbours Bangladesh (GNB) is proud to announce that it has been awarded the prestigious UNESCO-Hamdan Prize for Teacher Development (8th Edition) in recognition of its outstanding contributions to teacher development through the GNB education programme. This esteemed global award is presented by UNESCO every two years to highlight innovative practices ... Read more

Admission Fest begins at Presidency University

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The Admission Fest at Presidency University began on October 3, 2024 (Thursday) and will continue till October 18, 2024. The honourable Acting Vice-Chancellor of Presidency University, Professor A.H.M Faruque, inaugurated the fest. The event was attended by the university’s Principal Adviser, Professor Dr. Md. Anwarul Kabir, Deans of various faculties, the ... Read more

RU academic activities to resume on Sept 8

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The academic activities of Rajshahi University (RU) will resume on September 8 following a closure of more than two months. Classes of first-year students under the academic session 2023-24 are likely to start soon after the admission process is completed. The decisions were taken in a meeting held with all deans ... Read more

US Embassy, Brac University hosts first-ever Academy for Women Entrepreneurs alumni fair in Dhaka

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Bren Flanigan, acting counselor for Public Affairs of the US Embassy, today (3 July) inaugurated the first-ever fair exclusively for Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) alumni in Bangladesh at the Brac University campus. AWE, a global initiative led by the US Department of State, equips aspiring women entrepreneurs with essential knowledge, ... Read more

National Earth Olympiad (NEO) 2024 empowers 300 youth across 8 divisions

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The final leg of Green Day Training of National Earth Olympiad (NEO) 2024 was held at Independent University Bangladesh (IUB) on Friday, 17 May after completing the divisional rounds at seven divisional cities of Bangladesh and the Cumilla Region. This year a total of 2000+ students participated in the preliminary rounds ... Read more

Canada Bangladesh Alumni Association celebrates ‘Acoustic Social 2’

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The Canada Bangladesh Alumni Association (CBAA) hosted a remarkable evening of connection and celebration at Acoustic Social 2 on 15 May. With over 60 esteemed alumni from prominent Canadian universities such as the University of Toronto, University of British Columbia, Western Ontario, and more in attendance, the event exemplified the enduring ... Read more

Stockholm Junior Water Prize Bangladesh award ceremony held

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The Stockholm Junior Water Prize Bangladesh (SJWPBD) Award Ceremony 2024, held on 10 May from 3:30pm to 5:00pm, at Ascott Palace, Baridhara, Dhaka, Bangladesh, dazzled audiences as it showcased the groundbreaking solutions crafted by the brilliant young minds of Bangladesh to tackle pressing water-related challenges. Set against the backdrop of a ... Read more

Uttara University’s ‘Infopedia’ poster competition: A spectacle of knowledge and creativity

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The Department of English at Uttara University recently organized a vibrant and intellectually stimulating poster competition titled “Infopedia.” The event showcased the creative prowess and academic excellence of students from the 61st and 62nd batches of the department. The competition, held on April 30th and May 4th, 2024, featured themes centered ... Read more

DU to resume in-person classes from Wednesday

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The University of Dhaka will return to in-person classes starting next Wednesday (8 May). As the intensity of the heatwave came down to a bearable level following a drop in the city temperature due to downpours witnessed in the last couple of days, in-person classes will start again in the university ... Read more

BRAC University students win awards at OSUN film festival

News Desk : dhakamirror.com BRAC University students have recently won multiple prestigious awards at the Open Society University Network (OSUN) Film Festival. The festival was held online and featured 25 student-made videos, the final projects of the “Visual Storytelling for Student Engagement” course in the Fall 2023 semester. This collaborative course was offered at seven ... Read more

Professor Dr. Mohammad Ashik Mosaddik joined as the new Pro-Vice Chancellor of East West University

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Professor Dr Ashik Mosaddik joined as the new Pro-Vice Chancellor (Pro-VC) of East West University (EWU) on Monday, 4 December 2023. The Honourable Chancellor of the University, His Excellency the President of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh; Mohammed Shahabuddin appointed him as Pro Vice-Chancellor for four years, reads a press release. ... Read more

Department of Population Sciences at Dhaka University hosts farewell ceremony and freshmen reception

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The freshers’ reception for the students of the 2022-23 session and the farewell ceremony for the students of the 2017-18 session were recently held in the Department of Population Sciences of University of Dhaka. Professor Dr Zia Rahman, dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Dhaka, was present as ... Read more

Youth festival held in Dhaka

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The premises of the Krishibid Institution echoed the energetic strides of more than 300 youths from across the country who gathered to participate in the Youth Festival on Sunday. Organized by the Right Here Right Now (RHRN2) project of Brac’s Social Empowerment and Legal Protection (SELP) Program, the purpose of the ... Read more

Cadet College admission test fee through bKash

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Like previous years, admission seekers of the country’s 12 cadet colleges can pay application fee for admission test through bKash. Applicants or their guardians can apply for admission test at the cadet colleges’ admission website till 5:00pm of 13 December and complete the application with fee payment through bKash. The applicants ... Read more

NSU Center for Business Research hosts seminar on applied business research

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The Center for Business Research at North South University (NSU) hosted a seminar titled “Applied Business Research in the Digital Age” on Monday (16 October). ANM Ziaul Islam Mithu, a distinguished industry leader and managing director of KANTAR was present as the keynote speaker, reads a press release. Professor Helal Ahammad, ... Read more

Amazon Web Services shortlists 34 Bangladeshi startups for credit facilities of $10,000 each

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Following the jury’s evaluation at Amazon Web Services Startup Day Bangladesh 2023, 34 Bangladeshi startups were selected to receive credit facilities from the company worth $10,000 each. Amazon Web Services Startup Day Bangladesh 2023 was held for the first time in Bangladesh on October 5, says a press release. The day-long ... Read more

UIU holds seminar on youth development

News Desk : dhakamirror.com United International University organised a seminar on ‘Youth Development’ at the UIU campus on Madani Avenue in Dhaka on Tuesday. Nazma Rahman, mayor of Camden in London, was present as chief guest on the occasion. Mike Sherriff, charity trustee, author and former charity chief executive, Nayeem Hossain, president of Nagorik Dhaka ... Read more

Scholarship awarded for IELTS exam candidates at North South University

News Desk : dhakamirror.com North South University (NSU) and British Council jointly organized a scholarship award ceremony for IELTS exam candidates. The event was graced by Tom Miscioscia, Country Head of the British Council with his delegation of administrative and business heads, reads a press release. Professor Atiqul Islam, Vice-Chancellor of NSU led the events. ... Read more

NSU secures top spot in NASA Space Apps Challenge

News Desk : dhakamirror.com North South University’s department of Electrical and Computer Engineering has soared to new heights by making a splash in the prestigious NASA SPACE APPS CHALLENGES 2023. This marks a watershed moment for NSU as the challenge is a globally recognised hackathon spearheaded by NASA itself, said a press release. The team, ... Read more

ULAB holds CSE Freshers’ Orientation Fall 2023

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The Department of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) at the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) organised the Fall 2023 CSE Freshers’ Orientation on 5 October 2023, at the ULAB Permanent Campus, reads a press release. Russell T. Ahmed, the President of the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS), ... Read more