Jagoree met for its latest discussion circle on "Traffic Congestion in Dhaka: Problems and Solutions" on last Friday (5 March). The event was a grand one, with more than 20 regular and new members participating in a lively discussion on the problem that every one of us faces every single day. Keynote presentations were made by Maruf Rahman of WBB Trust who has extensive experience working with urban planning and the traffic situation in Bangladesh, and Iftekhar Mahfuz Parel of Jagoree, who summarized previous discussions withing Jagoree on this topic..Guest speaker, Dr. Charishma Choudhury of BUET started a round of lively discussions by sharing her comments on the information presented and the key issues surrounding the debates. All other participants shared their personal experiences, as well as meaningful insights into the way forward.The discussion was organized at the Work For Better Bangladesh (WBB) office, an likeminded organization which kindly hosted the Jagoree event.

The problem that was most frequently reiterated by everybody was that urban planning was virtually absent in Dhaka, multiple authorities simultaneously building infrastructure without any coordination, resulting in unplanned growth of urban sprawls. Roads were insufficient to begin with, but is now compounded by uncontrolled growth of private cars. It was shown how vested interest groups contribute to the traffic congestion by manipulating government policies, and how no due diligence is given to environmental and other impact assessment before approval of projects in government meetings. Recent measures such as underground metro and ExpressWays were criticized as being counterproductive, since the former is an impossibility in Bangladesh, and the latter has already been proven harmful elsewhere, such as in Europe. Apart from these, myths regarding Rickshaws ("they increase congestion") were challenged, the idea of a "intimate city" discussed, and the importance of non-motorized transport coupled with self-sufficient micro-communities (requiring less travel) highlighted.

Some publications by WBB trust on this issue:

http://www.wbbtrust.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=73&Itemid=162