Occupying street to hold election!

It is unfathomable how on Friday, the Bangladesh Chemists and Druggists Samity blocked the entire street connecting Bailey Road with Ramna Park to hold a daylong election.  The association also took the liberty of decorating the road in front of the Officers' Club with banners and festoons making the place look more like the venue of a fair than of one of the busiest roads in the Capital. A photo published in this newspaper yesterday depicts all this and leaves much more to our imagination. What exactly is the policeman seen in the picture doing? Did the organisation take permission from the DMP? If it did, why did the latter allow it to occupy one of the arterial roads of the city? Is lawlessness the new law in this country? 

The consequences of Dhaka's gridlock on the economy and public health are enormous, costing the economy Tk. 1.5 billion a day and a rise in conditions such as hypertension. To reduce it, the government has undertaken some ambitious projects such as the BRT, MRT and elevated express highways. Will not the gains made by these laudable initiatives be eclipsed by such utter disregard for law?

The reasons behind Dhaka's traffic congestion are many and complex. While there is no single, grand solution to the problem, it can be managed by implementing simple measures like making the roads usable for vehicles and pedestrians. Is that too much to expect?