Even though there is a law as well as an order from the High Court to free footpaths from illegal occupants, hawkers and vendors continue to carry on business there, blocking pedestrians’ movement. The hawkers have the backing of influential people.
Two city corporations in Dhaka have around 389 km of footpaths. But most of it is occupied by grabbers violating the HC order. As a result, hundreds of thousands of commuters are subjected to immense inconvenience daily and they cannot reach their destinations on time.
Masudur Rahman, an official of the Bangladesh Krisi Bank, said: “My office is located at Motijheel. Every day it takes 45 minutes to an hour for me to reach Motijheel by bus from Kawranbazar. But if I walk, I can reach there in 40 to 45 minutes.” He put the blame on traffic snarls at Bangla Motor, Shahbag, Matsya Bhaban and the Paltan crossing for the delay. “If the footpaths were free, I could have walked to my office without remaining stuck in traffic jams,” he said.
The Dhaka City Manual 1982 and the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Ordinance 1976 provide for keeping the city footpaths free from illegal occupation. It is also stated that the footpaths will be kept fit for walking.
Section 15 of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Ordinance says it is the responsibility of the police to solve any problem that puts commuters in an unpleasant and harmful
situation. The footpaths must be fit for walking. So, if the footpaths are occupied by makeshift shops, the responsibility lies with the police to solve the problem.
On February 26, 2012, advocate Manzill Murshid, president of Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB), filed a writ petition before the HC, seeking its directive on the government to free the road from Zero Point to Sadarghat from traffic congestion.
In response to the petition, the HC, on the same day, directed the government to free roads and footpaths from the particular route within 48 hours to facilitate smooth movement of people and vehicles.
It also asked the government to make sure that nobody keeps sand, rods and other construction materials by the wayside and on pavements. The court issued a rule upon the government to explain in two weeks why it would not be directed to evict or remove materials occupying footpaths.
The HC ruling proved effective. The law-enforcers, in a drive the next day, removed all shops, structures and other materials from footpaths and roadsides. But after a few days, grabbers came back with a vengeance occupying the footpaths again.