Lights on the road

 In Canada, I have lived in both Saskatchewan and Ontario Provinces. Everywhere one thing really surprises me; the road lights. It feels like that at night, we are playing hide and seek games with the cars. By looking at any moving shadow, drivers assume something is there. Because of lights, many accidents happen; they hit pedestrians or any light poles, etc.

On the other side, if you look at the markets, even apartment buildings everything are decorated with lights. Unnecessary lights. If you can afford it, it's OK. Looks really beautiful. Then what happens when it comes to the roads? The street lights are not bright enough to see the streets clearly, and the gap between each light pole creates darkness on the road. It is difficult to determine whether humans or animals are on the road.

Car lights don't give light on the road enough to correctly see any road damage. It is just for the other cars and people to notice something is running on the road.

In winter, most people wear black or dark winter jackets. It's not just people's choice; most of the winter dresses in the shopping malls are black. There should be a law to mark winter jackets with a reflecting colour, which will be very helpful for pedestrians and cars.

If you come to Bangladesh, you will see that the road lights are so bright that people can study beside the roads. I have noticed that the road lights are perfect in Malaysia, UAE, Saudi Arabia, etc.

নতুন পথ (New road)

ভয়, সন্দেহ, জড়তা, আশংকা, লজ্জা এমনি কত কিছুইনা আবর্জনার মতো আমাদের পা আঁকড়ে ধরে থাকে। একটু সাহস আর শক্তি সঞ্চয় করে যদি এসবের বাইরে এক পা ফেলেন, আপনি বুঝবেন পৃথিবীটা যতটা কঠিন ভাবছেন, হয়তো সব সময় আপনার জন্য তা নয়। ভাগ্য হয়তো এখনও আপনাকে পুরোপুরি ছেড়ে যায়নি... দেখুন না একবার এগিয়ে... হয়তো আপনার চলার সাথে সাথে নতুন পথের সৃষ্টি হবে....

Fear, doubt, shyness etc holds our legs just like dirt. If you just could manage some strength and bravery to step across this dirt of your life, you may found the world isn't that hard, as it always was with you. May be your fortune still with you... just keeping trying... maybe you will create new path in your life... 

You are using clean road because someone else didn’t make it dirt

photo credit: Shafeen

Most of the inhabitants of this mega city Dhaka are from outside of Dhaka. And among them, most of them are from very rural area. Where they didn't have to face any city problem and didn't have to maintain city life. I mean there are some extra cares you need to take in your work in city life. These people came in the city, then rent or buy flat and start their city life…

In Dhaka there are many roads which are very narrow that only 1 or 2 car can pass carefully. For nearby work place you may like to walk on those roads. And while walking you will face, someone may dropped house hold dirt or kitchen dirt on the road, they might became rotted. You have to always careful with every footstep, and also which are coming from upwards. Suddenly you might find someone threw egg shells or chicken bone on your head. What it is? You are not in rural area anymore that you can throw anything anywhere. You have to use dustbin for dirt. Windows are not for throwing dirt.

They might think, they don’t use that road or road cleaner will clean the road once, so they can do this kind of attitude regularly. Listen carefully. When you use a clean road, you feel good. And remember, it was clean because I didn’t throw any dirt over there. Be clean, not inside your home. Also the road you or others use. 

Big trees beside the roads

Now a day we are making wide roads to solve our traffic problems. I will suggest adding one more thing. Please add big trees at both side of the road, if we have road divider then we can grow over there too. Here we better avoid fruit or good wood trees, because then people might have cut it down for their own benefit. It should be big tree which will give shadows on the road. Their fruits will be suitable for the birds and other creatures (like Debdaru or Cedrus deodara) only. The main reason of these trees is to give shadow to the passer by. And they will also help our eco system by helping birds and other creatures. It will give more green to our country.

Otherwise, when we pass the road, we really feel sick because of high temperature. Even, when you are in a vehicle you have to face this problem. If we can solve this problem with a natural way, we better try that.

Some tips

Me and Shafeen (my 4 years and 5 months old son)  at Bashundhara City Shopping  Complex

I have a tip for Dhaka Inhabitants. You should try to avoid Moghbazar to Bangla Motor road if possible, because Mouchak – Moghbazar flyover construction has started, and it blocked half of the road at the middle. Small space is free where only one row of car can pass. So to avoid terrible traffic jam we better find different way to move.

Here is a tip for the tea lovers. If you are at Bashundharacity shopping complex and you need to take tea then you can go the level 1 at the end of the row where Almas shop stands. They give tea per cup 10taka. Or you can go to the level 6 just opposite of the level1 food court. It is standing at the end of shoe shops. Their tea is also well. Or the easy way is to go the level 8 and find “Dhakya” food stall. They also provide tea.

Still I am alive

Yesterday when the bus hit our car, I thought I have gone forever. But somehow car driver slow down his speed at the last moment and bus driver give the hard break. But both have seen each other long time back, easily they could stopped themselves. But Bangladeshi tradition is unless there is no space between them; cars/bus/rickshaw will not give chance to anyone to go earlier.

Urban pollution in the Badda road

In Dhaka (Bangladesh), as far as I can feel the most polluted road is Badda road. It started from Muchak market and end at Bishsha road. It’s a quite long road. And I guess it is 40-50 feet wide. If you travel with this road first you will face lots of dust. If you have allergy then you are in big trouble. And many bus, trucks and cars running over this road, and most of them produced black smoke. After reaching home, if you clean your nose with tissue paper you will see black dust, no matter most of them are already gone into your body. You can’t image what you breath all the road.

With buses and cars there are rickshaws. And every day, even in the weekends this road is full with traffic jam. I feel this is the most polluted air road in Dhaka city.

Road cutting in Dhaka city

This is very common scenario for the inhabitants of the Dhaka city. Whole year, some where of the road in the city you will find some road cutting is going on. And you will see this more during the rainy season.

We have seen, road are cut one day (actually take several days to cut the total road) and keep this for days. After that some work taken place on this road. Again authority keeps the road on that condition, cut and open. And finally authority took long time to repair. And the repairmen aren’t very good. A car jerks terribly when it pass the road

This shouldn’t continue. Road shouldn’t be cut long time ago before start the work, and it should be done part by part. No need to cut whole long road at a time. Authority should cut the road only that part and after complete the work they should repair it properly immediately. Then cut next part of the road.