DMP runs only 4 run-down tow trucks, 2 of them busy in VIP duty
Random parking on roads has become a habit of city motorists as they very well know that nobody would tow away their wrongly parked vehicles. At worst, they will have to pay a nominal fine.
Also, traffic personnel remain busy mostly with maintaining signals at intersections, instead of preventing illegal parking which worsens traffic jam. And lack of car parks has compounded the problem.
Mahbubur Rahman, joint commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said for illegal parking the existing law allows officials only to impose a Tk 200 fine, which the vehicle owners care little.
The car owners are bothered only when their precious vehicles are towed away, he observed.
But the understaffed DMP traffic wing has only four tow trucks, two of which are for VIP duties, he added.
Against this backdrop, the DMP authority is going to engage private companies in towing operation, and proposed the government increase fine and towing charge.
Mahbubur Rahman said, “Recently we have sent a proposal to higher authorities for procurement of 50 more wreckers [or tow trucks], and requested them to increase fine and towing charge.”
According to the proposal, half of the towing charge will be sent to the government exchequer and the private company concerned will receive the rest. However, the fine money will not be shared.
“At present, we use wreckers only to create panic among those who have parked illegally. If one car is towed away from an area, the rest immediately get dispersed to avoid towing,” he said.
However, different points of roads clogged with parked vehicles interrupting traffic movements is an everyday spectacle.
From Banglamotor to Moghbazar and from Mouchak to Moghbazar, vehicles are seen parked on either side of the road, occupying at least two-thirds space.
In front of high-rise business establishments like Siam Tower, Singapore Plaza and Kushal Centre in Uttara, four-wheelers remain parked leaving no room for other vehicles.
DMP sources said around 3,600 personnel of the traffic wing mainly control traffic movement at intersections and they have little time to take action against illegal parking at other places.
Contacted on May 4, a traffic official deployed at Moghbazar intersection, preferring anonymity, said, “We, five traffic personnel, are deployed at the intersections for maintaining signal and a traffic sergeant monitor the area.”
If any of them leaves the intersection for a while, there creates chaos leading to accidents. So, he argues, it is quite impossible for them to check illegal parking away from the intersections.
A DMP high official said the traffic department has neither adequate manpower nor the logistics to mitigate the parking woes.
Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) sources said due to lack of staff they failed to ensure parking space at some buildings as per Rajuk approved plan.
In many cases, on completion of the highrises, the owners have built commercial centres on designated parking spaces and at basements.
Aminur Rahman, authorised official-1 of Rajuk, referring to almost all the buildings on Sonargaon Road at Kataban, said a number of shops have been set up at the parking spaces while the basements are being used as storerooms.
As per the new National Building Act of 2008, Rajuk has to issue occupancy certificates to the owners after inspecting parking management of the buildings.
No building owner is supposed to get any utility service connection without obtaining the certificate, Aminur added.
Had the authorities concerned taken steps as per the law, most city roads would be free from illegal parking, he added.
Courtesy of The Daily Star
