Staff Reporter :
Speakers at a discussion meeting marking Passenger Rights Day have urged political parties contesting the upcoming national elections to include concrete plans in their manifestos aimed at reducing road accidents and easing traffic congestion through the introduction of improved public transport.
The call came from Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity, whose Secretary General, Md Mozammel Haque Chowdhury, presented alarming figures and observations highlighting the urgent need for reform during a discussion meeting held at the Dhaka Reporters’ Unity on Saturday.
AB Party Senior Vice Chairman Professor Dr. Major (Retd.) Abdul Wahab Minar, Ganadhikar Parishad Senior Vice President Faruk Hasan, Ganasanghati Andolon Central Committee Member Dipak Roy, Jatiya Nagorik Party Senior Joint Convener Ariful Islam Adib, former chairman of Jatri Kalyan Samity Sharif Rafiquzzaman, Supreme Court lawyer Md Yasin Chowdhury, and Md Billal Hossain, spoke, among others.
According to the organization’s monitoring, 62,619 road accidents in the past eleven years have claimed 86,690 lives and injured 153,257 people.
World Bank estimates show that unbearable traffic congestion in Dhaka alone wastes 3.2 million working hours daily, causing an annual financial loss of Tk 98,000 crore and fuel wastage worth around Tk 11,000 crore.
Health experts warn that the toll extends beyond economic loss, as prolonged exposure to congestion severely affects both physical and mental health.
Citizens are increasingly irritable and anxious, while their immune systems weaken, leading to rising cases of high blood pressure, lung cancer, respiratory disease, kidney and heart problems, and even reproductive health issues.
Chowdhury noted that the intensity of traffic jams in the capital continues to worsen, causing serious air and noise pollution, while the regular frustration of gridlock raises the risk of family breakdowns by 50 percent.
Experts also identify excessive congestion as a factor behind poor intellectual development and neurological damage in children.
Many believe that the misdirection of teenagers is partly linked to the dual crisis of traffic and unemployment.
He criticised the 2018 Road Transport Act, saying it failed to address these problems because the opinions of passengers and civil society were ignored during its formulation.
In the absence of efficient public transport, motorcycles used for ride-sharing, along with easybikes and autorickshaws, have become the dominant modes of transport.
Meanwhile, 56 percent of people are compelled to rely on private vehicles. Corruption and misguided policies in previous governments have extended the problem of congestion from cities and ports to rural areas as well.
Despite the sacrifices of countless students and citizens who fought for a new Bangladesh, the interim government has yet to take any initiative to reform the transport sector.
In this context, Chowdhury demanded that every political party include strategies in their election manifestos to stop the yearly loss of thousands of lives on the roads and to relieve citizens from the crippling suffering of traffic congestion.
