Traffic police have taken a hardline approach to checking papers of vehicles and booking errant drivers, but they have failed to curb other nuisances—motorcyclists encroaching on footpaths, buses picking and dropping passengers on middle of roads and jaywalking by pedestrians.

This correspondent visited the road between Kalyanpur and Technical around 10 am yesterday and found bikers brazenly driving on the footpaths, honking their horns at pedestrians to get out of the way. They were overlooked by traffic sergeants, who were busy managing traffic on the main thoroughfare, which is the entry route for 17 southern districts.

When confronted for using the footpath as a shortcut, a biker named Mahtab Hossain argued: “There is no space on the road and I am in a rush to reach my office.”

The brazenness of bikers like Mahtab left the rightful users of footpaths an irritated lot. Shawawat Liton, a pedestrian, said, “These bikers are a complete nuisance. As far as I know, the High Court has a ruling in this regard, but I don’t see it being implemented anywhere.”

Unauthorized parking at non-designated places is another problem. Four-wheelers were found parked on the footpaths along the road

from Lalmatia Arong to Asadgate around 8 am yesterday, causing immense inconvenience to walkers.

Commuters too were found standing on the road and waiting for buses at the busy intersection. When pointed out that it was dangerous to do so, Sarwar Badhan, a student of Jahangirnagar University, said in annoyance: “Due to traffic week and the hardline of law enforcers, there are few city buses. It would be hard to board a bus if I wait at the side of the road.”

The scenario was same across the city with pedestrians violating rules with impunity. On their part, bus drivers too stopped anywhere on the road to pick and drop passengers at will.

Traffic officials said it was hard to control the movement of both vehicles and pedestrian on the roads. “We always tell the commuters to follow the regulations for their own safety. But it’s futile because they never follow our instructions,” said an on duty traffic policeman.

Talking to The Independent, joint commissioner (traffic division south) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Mofiz Ahmed said, “There are lots of limitations in controlling traffic and movement of commuters here in Dhaka, but we are trying our best.”

Hawkers encroaching footpaths and roadsides was another perennial problem. In front of Tejgaon College, makeshift shops were found selling vegetables, chicken and dresses, choking the spaces meant for vehicles and commuters.

Abul Kalam, a street vendor, reasoned: “I don’t have any option but to ply my trade on the footpath. Where will I get the money to rent a shop?”

A policeman posted nearby refused to comment on the encroachments.

Given the unruly traffic management in this city of 1.8 crore people, Dhaka cantonment presents a stark contrast. The orderly movement of traffic management in the cantonment area is admired by every visitor.

Meanwhile, Dr M Shafiq-Ur Rahman, an expert of transport and planning, said a proper system can be implemented in an experimental way, but implementing it across Dhaka was likely to be complicated if the number of vehicles was not reduced.

“To implement the law, the traffic division and the authorities concerned must be stricter in dealing with all types of vehicles,” he added.

Distracted walking on the part of commuters was also witnessed on the city streets as they lacked orientation towards road safety rules. Pedestrians were often found speaking on their mobile phones while crossing roads, unmindful of the danger.

On Saturday, DMP commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia had declared an extension of the ongoing traffic week up to August 14, enabling traffic police personnel to continue with the ramped up vigilance on the roads for a few more days.

In the last seven days till Saturday, 62,143 cases were filed against traffic violators in Dhaka. Of them, 32,238 cases pertained to bikers. In addition, at least Tk 33,638,137 crore in fines was collected (source DMP). Besides, police have put up posters and distributed leaflets and stickers to alert pedestrians and drivers.

The DMP commissioner said, “In our country, 90 per cent of the people violate rules. It is very difficult to implement laws against them. But strict action will be taken against those who break traffic regulations.”

Urging pedestrians to maintain traffic rules, Mia warned: “A mobile court will be set up to take action against people who refuse to use foot over bridges.”

He added: “It is not possible to maintain traffic only by law. We need aconcerted effort by all people.”

BRTA director (enforcement) Hasan Al Amin said the transport regulator would continue with its increased vigilance. “Dhaka, however, has way too many vehicles than we can effectively control. Several other factors also play a role here. We hope everyone would take an individual initiative to solve the traffic problem in Dhaka,” he added.