Cumilla city goes thru major traffic system overhaul
City dwellers likely to see the major changes within two months
Cumilla city, which has been badly suffering gridlocks for long, is now going through an overhaul for an improved traffic system.
The Cumilla City Corporation started the renovation work on 2 February with six action plans, according to officials familiar with the matter.
The plans are: demolishing illegal establishments on roadsides, ensuring parking places in every shopping complex and market, making crucial roads one-way, limiting auto-rickshaw movement to particular areas, demolishing all the unnecessary monuments on roads, and fixing places for collecting road toll.
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"We have a target to implement the initiatives within two months. After that, we will hold a meeting with the parliament member, civil society and local representatives to discuss the improvement," said Shafiqul Islam, chief executive officer of the city corporation.
"If we fail to address the traffic congestion by this time, we will try to figure out alternative solutions with the discussion," he told The Business Standard.
Mayor of the city corporation Monirul Haque Sakku said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina recently approved a Tk1,538 crore development fund for them.
"With the allocated money, we started implementing our much-sought-after projects to make Cumilla city free of problems."
"We earlier did not get sufficient budget to initiate any large-scale project for the city development, since its inception in 2010," he told TBS.
The city mayor was hopeful that they would be able to build a beautiful city with the utilisation of the development fund.
A portion of the fund will be used to implement the six action plans, while another portion will be spent to develop crucial roads in the city. The corporation, however, did not disclose the amount to be spent on improving the traffic system.
Sakku said they would construct several multistorey buildings for the corporation, develop infrastructure for reducing waterlogging, beautify the sides of Gumti River and other large water bodies, and build attractive bridges and others with the fund.
Of the six action plans for minimising gridlocks, one is to clear roads and footpaths of the illegal establishments.
In a recent visit to several places of the city, roads and adjacent footpaths in Shasongacha, Police Lines, Kandirpar, Rajgonj and Chawkbazar areas were found already free of illegal occupation. Commuters and pedestrians were moving easily. Talking to this correspondent, they said they could now save a lot of time in their journey through the areas.
On Tuesday, the authorities were found conducting such drives in the areas of Pubali Chattar, Modern School, Circuit House. The officials said they would demolish all the illegal establishments in other areas, including the crucial Paduar Bazar highway, in phases. Besides, the makeshift shops in front of the city corporation-owned New Market and City Market would be cleared soon.
To implement the second action plan, the corporation asked shopping complexes and other large markets to manage parking places on their own. Otherwise, the corporation would make their ground floors parking places.
Under the third plan, the corporation already announced Rajgonj-Shapla-Kandirpar road one-way to ensure uninterrupted traffic. It also made alternative routes there. Besides, the movement of large buses of universities, schools, colleges or other organisations were asked to avoid pubali Chattar and Kanidirpar.
In the visit, several designated checkposts were found set up on the crucial road. Police were ensuring one-way traffic movements there. In case of irregularities, the law enforcement agency was penalising offenders.
The city corporation limited auto-rickshaw movement to limited areas, to implement its fourth plan. Besides, the vehicles were asked not to stand in a place for a long time.
To materialise the fifth action plan, the authorities demolished all the monuments on roads built by different organisations or institutions in Shasongacha, Police Lines, Kandirpar, Rajgonj and Chawkbazar areas. The drive was going on in other areas.
In future, no agency, except the government, would be allowed to build such establishments on roads, according to the corporation.
It also announced that the road tolls would be collected from designated stoppages, as part of its effort to implement the sixth action plan. Besides, the authorities deployed Rapid Action Battalion to eradicate all the irregularities in toll collection.
City corporation officials believe the initiatives would bring a good traffic system for the city. However, civil society people suggested some others for making Cumilla a liveable city.
"The city corporation can allow vendors on roads to set up their makeshift shops on khas land in the city area," said Badrul Huda Jenu, former president of Sochetan Nagarik Committee for Cumilla unit.
He suggested the authorities fix stands for buses and make Zebra Crossing for pedestrians.
To make a complete city, Badrul Huda believed, Cumilla city needed a modern stadium, an auditorium and other civic amenities.
