Holy Times Report :

It’s a very important to ensure smooth movement of pedestrians in Dhaka city. In the congested Dhaka city, the lack of adequate facilities in the area creates a safety hazard for pedestrians. In recent times, a large proportion of those killed in road accidents are students. According to the 2021 data of Road Safety Foundation, 13 percent of those killed in road accidents are school-college students, 6,284 people have been killed in road accidents in the country, 803 of them are students. Most of the students commute on foot. The main reasons for these accidents are the lack of fixed speed limit of vehicles, insufficient speed limiters, zebra crossings and footpaths suitable for walking in educational institute areas. In continuation of this, today, under the initiative of the Center for Policy and Policy Affairs-CLP, in collaboration with the Global Alliance of NGOs, Sofor Road Safety, Mohammadpur, Dhaka. An awareness program on safe movement of pedestrians on the road was conducted at Bengal Medium High School and Dhaka Ideal Cadet School located on Aziz Khan Road in the area. About 100 students and teachers of both schools were present in the awareness program. In the presiding speech of the awareness program, Aminul Islam Bakul, Program Advisor of Center for Law and Policy Affairs-CLPA said that Pedestrian Safety Draft Regulations Mala, 2021 emphasized on speedy implementation. Bengal The head teacher of the medium high school while giving a speech said that the obstacle for the students to walk to school safely is that the sidewalks around the school are littered and encroached in various ways. As there are no zebra crossings or speed breakers around the school, they walk to school at risk. Apart from that, due to the parking of private cars on the streets and the excess of private cars, students do not feel safe on the streets. In order to make the pedestrians safe on the road, we must pay attention to these issues. But we also have to be aware of ourselves. The head teacher of Dhaka Ideal Cadet School said that due to keeping shop equipment on the sidewalks, the students-teachers-independents who have occupied the sidewalks cannot walk freely. Moreover, the footpaths are relatively higher than the main road, creating problems for the elderly, disabled and ordinary people to walk. If the local influential people come forward about their problems locally, then the problem will be solved, but in this case, if they communicate with the policy makers to solve the problem according to the needs of the community, all these problems can be solved. Apart from that, traffic signals can also play an important role in this regard. Students say that they are constantly facing problems in walking safely on the road. They feel unsafe because there are not enough zebra crossings, speed breakers on the road. They also say that the sidewalks on the roads are mostly unfit for walking. In many cases, they do not feel comfortable walking due to broken pavements, garbage and encroachment due to private car parking and various shops. Due to all these reasons they have to walk on the road which is very dangerous. Many roads have no traffic. Sidewalks are littered with dirt and garbage. They emphasize on all these things to walk safely to school.

Habib Nipu, policy analyst of CLPA, said that about 95% of the roads are pedestrians. Both parties involved in road management and road users have to take responsibility for controlling road accidents. Everyone has to use the road according to the rules that exist on the road.

CLPA's policy analyst Kamrunnisha Munna said, we need to ensure infrastructure facilities for walking on the road, as well as those who walk on the road, we also need to be aware. When traveling on the road we must walk on the left side of the road and use zebracrossing.

Speakers of the awareness program recommended keeping sidewalks free of car parking, garbage and encroachment by shops, not raising sidewalks, provision of adequate zebra crossings and speed breakers on streets near processions. Pasha Pasi urged everyone to follow the rules on the road.

Bengal Medium School Headmaster Mr. Narayan Chandra Das and Dhaka Ideal Cadet School Headmaster MA Mannan Monir were present in this awareness program. And Program Advisor Aminul Islam Bakul, Policy Analyst Habib Nipu and Policy Analyst Kamrunnisha Munna were present on behalf of Center for Law and Policy Affairs-CLPA. Finance and Admin Officer Atiqur Rahman. About 100 students and teachers of both schools attended the awareness.