The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

Speakers at a view exchange meeting yesterday urged the government to restrict the number of private cars on the streets in Dhaka city with a view to reducing traffic jam.

They put forward this suggestion at meeting on " Traffic Jam, A Problem and Way to Resolve', organised by Paribesh Bachaw Anddolon (PABA) at the Imax Center in Dhanmondi. Veteran journalist Kamal Lohani chaired the meeting.

Quoting the report of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, Lohani said every year some 37,000 cars are joining the transport network in the capital and 80 percent of them are private cars. "

" But the government has been putting restriction on the movement of public transports instead of private cars. As a result, 90 per cent of people of the capital have been facing inconveniences in using public transports," he noted. He asked the government to solve this problem immediately.

Demanding the immediate framing of rules and regulations for putting restriction on the movement of private transports he placed some proposals. They include imposing of congestion charge on private transport movement in different busy street of the capital, charging parking fee, restriction of approval of license of private cars, introduction 0f public transport system instead of private transports for educational institutes and government and non-government offices, improvement of rail transport system, introduction of zebra crossing to facilitate the crossing of roads by pedestrians.

Tushar Rehaman, Secretary general of Citizen Right;s Movement, Saifuddin Ahmed, Executive Director of WBB trust, Bidhan Chandra Paul, programme officer of The Hunger Project, among others, spoke at the meeting. Abu Nesar Khan, Chairman of PABA ,moderated the meeting..