A country’s economy is said to be in a recession when the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) falls below 5-10 per cent, lasting for two or more quarters consecutively. The GDP can be defined as the total market value of services, goods, investment and labour within a country in a given period of time, which is usually one year. Generally speaking, it is said that a recession is a less severe downturn in the economy, and it has a tendency of getting resolved faster.
To some economists, a recession is an economic downturn that lasts for about 6 months to 1½ years, while a depression can be defined as a sharp downturn lasting a number of years. To other economists, a recession occurs when 4,000,000 – 5,000,000 people are unemployed for a period of 6-18 months, whereas a depression occurs when 7,000,000 – 8,000,000 people are unemployed for a longer period of time lasting years.
Recession, in fact, means different things to different people. For example, according to retailers, a recession means a fall in sales, although they do not agree whether it is a 5 percent or a 20 percent drop. To stockbrokers, it means a fall in the prices of stocks. For manufacturers, on the other hand, industrial production is the criterion.
Global recession starts affecting Bangladesh's economy
Bangladesh began to feel the pinch of the ongoing global economic downturn as the country's export sectors and overseas employment have been affected lately, though officials termed it "temporary."
Bangladesh's Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Sunday admitted that there has been a negative impact of the global recession on the country's sectors of jute, jute goods, knitwear and woven clothing, frozen food and many other sectors.
"The impact of recession is becoming visible gradually...It's slowly affecting all the sectors," the finance minister told reporters here after a meeting with a delegation of knitwear manufacturers and exporters.
This is the first time that a high-ranked government functionary has admitted that there has been a knock-on effect of global economic recession on the country's major export sectors, leading English-language daily The Financial Express said.
According to the statistics of the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), Bangladesh's export earning in December 2008 dropped by over 10 percent due to declining demand and prices in global markets.
The export orders from the country's main export markets -- Europe and the United States -- have declined modestly due to the global economic meltdown, EPB officials said.
President of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufactures and Exporters Association (BKMEA) Fazlul Hoque said exports from knitwear, the country's largest exporting item that witnessed robust growth for years, went down by 2.5 percent in December 2008.
But he said the shipment slumped by 25 percent in real term in the month while the trend of export orders shows no sign of bouncing back for at least the next three months.
Besides, the raw jute and jute goods exports in Bangladesh, the largest exporter of raw jute and jute products in the world, declined by 6.84 percent and 12.47 percent respectively in the first five months of the current 2008-2009 fiscal year (July 2008-June 2009).
Meanwhile, the country also experienced a sharp fall of 45 percent in manpower export in January due to declining demand in some Middle East countries which downsized their development activities amid the financial slowdown.
The country's inflow of remittance, which plays a significant role in the economy, is mostly contributed by the country's millions of overseas workers.
However, the finance minister made an optimistic observation that the impact of the global recession will be "temporary" and the government is gearing up its efforts to face the challenge.
He said a committee to counter the fallout is being formed and the first meeting of the proposed public-private body would be held by the end of this month or early next month.
The government earlier also asked the garments and textiles manufacturers to give proposals to recommend measures to tackle the impacts of the global economic crisis on the sectors.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith said the government will evaluate the proposals including the demand of increasing cash incentive for the apparel export.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh's Textile and Jute Minister Abdul Latif Biswas on Sunday said the government will soon adopt a coordinated strategy to safeguard the textile and garments industry from the shocks of financial meltdown.
The government will move fast to address the problems, he said at an inaugural ceremony of a textile and garment machinery exhibition here.
Bangladesh's tax revenue miss target as global recession constricts major source
Bangladesh's tax revenue income in the immediately past fiscal year ending in June fell short of target by around 1.19 percent as the world economic recession constricted imports growth, chopping off big slice of earnings from customs duties, officials said on Monday.
According to provisional statistics of the country's National Board of Revenue (NBR), the board collected 523.71 billion taka ( about 7.48 billion US dollars) in tax revenues in the last 2008- 09 fiscal year (July 2008-June 2009).
Bangladesh's total revenue collection target in the 2008-09 fiscal year was earlier set at 693.82 billion taka, of which the government set a tax revenue target of 545 billion taka.
Later on in May this year, the tax revenue target was reduced to 530 billion taka following a sluggish trend in earnings of import duties amid a volatile global economic situation.
Director (Research and Statistics) of the NBR, Sachindra Nath Sarker, said the fall in import duties was due mainly to decline in customs and supplementary duties, triggered by a big prices erosion of imported goods in the global market in context of financial tsunami.
The provisional statistics of the NBR, however, showed tax revenue earnings of the country was 10.41 percent higher than the collections in the previous 2007-08 fiscal year (July 2007-June 2008).
The South Asian country's tax revenue income in the previous 2007-08 fiscal year stood at 474.35 billion taka, with nearly 27 percent growth over that of the 2006-07 fiscal year.
"We missed a large sum of customs and supplementary duties because of price fall of imported items," a senior official in the customs department under the NBR said, requesting to be unnamed.
He said the NBR data showed the country's tax revenue earnings growth steadily decelerated from 19.80 percent in the first quarter of 2008-09 fiscal year to 13.24 percent in the first half and 12.21 percent in the first nine months.
However, of three major revenue wings including income tax, customs and value added tax (VAT), the official said earnings from the customs department, which accounts for more than 40 percent of the NBR's annual tax revenue collections, was 5.19 billion taka less than the revised target of 213.22 billion taka in last 2008- 09 fiscal year.
Apart from this, the provisional data showed earnings from VAT also fell short of target with around 4.55 billion taka in the last 2008-09 fiscal year, largely because of shortfall of supplementary duty collection.
The official of customs department said if the sliding trend in tax revenue collections continue, the government will face problem managing finance for its current 2009-10 fiscal year's budget.
Bangladesh Parliament last month passed 1.14 trillion taka ( about 16.5 billion US dollars) national budget for the current 2009-10 fiscal year began from July 1.
The budget set a revenue earning target of around total 794.60 billion taka for current fiscal year. Of total, the tax revenue collection target for the country's revenue board has been set at 610 billion taka. (1 US dollar equals about 70 taka)
Bangladesh Garment Trade Hit Hard by Global Recession, Seeking Aid
A garment-industry executive in Bangladesh says the global economic downturn has cost 50,000 garment workers their jobs, and he wants the government to provide financial support for the industry.
The president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Abdus Salam Murshedy, says factory owners also need more than $425 million from the government to pay salaries and bonuses due this month. Otherwise, he says, further layoffs may be necessary.
Garment manufacturing is the largest and most important sector of Bangladesh's economy. The $12 billion-a-year industry account for more than three-quarters of the nation's exports and foreign-exchange earnings.
Murshedy told reporters in Dhaka Thursday there have been major job losses due to 107 factory closures in recent months, even though trade statistics show the industry's overall performance improved during the last (2008-09) fiscal year.
Global Financial Recession & Bangladesh RMG exports
Garment exporters and major buyers say the global economic crisis will not affect Bangladesh’s ready made garment sector as it exports mainly basic products.
“Buyers will flock to Bangladesh for cheaper RMG products as major competitors such as China, India and Vietnam make mainly high-end garments,” said an official of a buying house, requesting anonymity. He said the sales of cheaper RMG products increased both in Europe and the US by 20 percent following the global financial turmoil. Manufacturers said only 5 percent of Bangladesh’s ready made garments are high-end.
KI Hossain, a local buyer, said the global financial recession might be a boon for Bangladesh and a bane for competitors. “The number of orders we are receiving from foreign buyers is still high as the buyers now look to cheaper RMG products,” he said.”I don’t see any negative impact of the financial turmoil on the export of Bangladeshi readymade garments,” said a senior official of an international buying house in Dhaka.
Talking to The Daily Star, Ghulam Faruque, chairman of SQ Group, one of the largest sweater exporting groups in Bangladesh, said: “Till now, the situation is good as the flow of foreign orders has been the same. It was rather higher in some cases”. “The bad impact of the global recession may be felt in February or March if the situation in the western financial markets does not improve,” Faruque said.
KM Rezaul Hasanat, managing director of Viyellatex Group, said the buyers of high-end ready made garments of India and China would now outsource products from Bangladesh. The orders are usually low from August to October and start peaking up from November. “So, we should not be worried about orders,” Hasanat said. He cautioned that some ’so-called’ buyers might want to take the opportunity of the recession. “They may demand rebates or concession. We must handle such a situation smartly,” Hasanat said. He said he did not receive any fewer orders than before.
A recent study of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Bangladesh’s abundant and relatively low-cost labour made it an attractive destination for investors. “Its success in the garment industry, which was the starting point in the industrialisation process for many of the East Asian economies, will make it attractive to investors as will its growing domestic market and good access to the huge Indian market,” said the IMF study report. According to the study released a week ago, “Although competition is becoming more intense, Bangladesh’s strong market position does not look like diminishing in the short term.”
Bangladesh set an export target at $16.298 billion for fiscal 2008-09, with the readymade garment sector to earn the highest amount of foreign currency. Of $16.298 billion, $12.267 billion is expected to come from two main sub-sectors of RMG: knitwear and woven.
How can our governments work together to overcome the global recession?
Combine the finest minds in the field of Economics, Banking and Finance from all over the world and get them to agree a way in which we can tackle the problem, without political bias.
A politically neutral discussion with these experts, over the course of however long it may require, may be a better way to come up with a solution - as opposed to gathering World leaders to discuss a solution in one day to an infinitely complex issue. Remember that Governments may choose to pursue their own political ambitions - as opposed to the most suitable economic strategy - when deciding on policies. This can, in itself, have a disastrous effect on the economy
This is a problem that needs a very long term solution; in other words longer than a usual term for a President or Prime Minister. I dread to think of any proposed solutions made by a current leader (and agreed in G20) to be ignored by his/her successor simply because of a difference in his/her own political ideals.
We have numerous types of financial systems all over the world, each with different regulatory systems. I think maybe having cohesion and standard protocols in terms of finance and banking internationally may prevent such disaster in the future.
Look at the US for examples. There are 2 regulatory systems for banks; The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and The Fed (which has joint responsibility with State Banking Authorities). These 2 parties have overlapping jurisdictions when it comes to banks in the US. Furthermore, you also have the Securities and Exchange Commission overlooking the securities market.
I am no expert, but I know that having such a complicated regulatory system in the US can give rise to several problems which can lead to a financial crisis.
Maybe if we can set international standards by which ALL financial intermediaries can adhere to, it would perhaps be slightly easier to monitor and regulate financial systems all over the world, and hence equipping governing bodies with better means to prevent financial crisis from occurring.
With better monitoring, we can tackle the following factors:
1) Increases in Interest rates
2) Increases in uncertainty
3) Asset Market effects on Balance sheets
4) Problems in the Banking Sector
5) Government Fiscal Imbalances
6) Asymmetric information (e.g. adverse selection & moral hazard)
All of which are contributory factors in a financial crisis.
ADB projects 5.2pc GDP growth for Bangladesh
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) forecast Bangladesh's economic growth at 5.2 percent for the current fiscal year (2009-10), down from nearly 5.9 percent the previous year.
The ADB report blames the effects of global slowdown on exports and remittances and a low consumer spending and domestic demand for this downturn in growth.
“GDP growth is forecast to slide further to 5.2 percent in fiscal 2009-10 as the global economic slowdown persists with continued moderation in external and domestic demand,” said the Manila-based international lender in Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2009 report, released Tuesday.
The report is an ADB's flagship annual economic publication. This year's report has forecast economic expansion in developing Asia to come in at 3.9 percent, up from the 3.4 percent predicted in March. In 2010, the growth projection is likewise upgraded to 6.4 percent from 6 percent. Stronger growth in East Asia and South Asia underpinned the improved prospects.
Prospects for South Asia improved to 5.6 percent this year, up from the previous forecasts of 4.8 percent as the outlook for five of the eight sub-regional economies were upgraded.
The sub-region's limited reliance on trade partly shielded it from the adverse effects of the global slump. Emerging signs of a recovery in private business confidence and a continued large fiscal stimulus announced in the July 2009 budget helped bolster India's projected economic expansion to 6 percent this year, upgraded from 5 percent in March. Bleaker prospects are projected for the Maldives, on account of weak tourism receipts, and for Pakistan and Sri Lanka due to tight domestic demand and the weak global economy.
Thus, there is hardly any cushion available to Bangladesh to mitigate the adverse impact of the ongoing recession. The purpose of this write up, however, is not to come up with policy suggestions for addressing the current debacle. This would call for a separate and serious professional exercise. As a matter of fact, a number of areas requiring policy interventions towards raising the competitiveness of domestic export-oriented sector and enhancing trade related capacity building have already been identified and put on the table. The task now is to seriously get on with the business of implementing the agendas. The upshot of the above discussion is to reemphasize that in the coming months and years Bangladesh’s increasingly globalized economy will, of necessity, have to be adequately prepared to face the consequences of the fluctuating fortunes of the global economy. The current debacle suffered by Bangladesh’s export sector should transmit appropriate signals to the country’s policy makers to the effect that it is only from strengthened global integration that Bangladesh stands to benefit in the context of her increasingly globalized economy; failing this, the price to be paid will rise in direct proportion to the degree of the country’s lack of preparedness. The ongoing global recession should thus serve Bangladesh both as a wake-up call, and as an warning bell.
Monday
Thursday
Relationship Marketing
Introduction:-
Marketing means anything that we do to satisfy our customer at a profit. The main objective of marketing is to attract and retrain customers. Simply, we say that, marketing means to attract and retain customers at a profit. So, marketing is customer based. But, the history of marketing tells that, the idea of marketing was continuously changing and it took many different forms at different ages. In these ages there many concepts related to marketing came such as production concept, product concept, selling concept, marketing concept.
Before introducing this production concept marketing activities that is selling and buying were confined to the familiar persons, which were termed as relationship marketing. As the buyer was keen to assure the quality of the products so they went to their acquainted persons and at the same time the seller also wanted their customers to come to them again and again. Hence, they established a relationship with the customers and this is known as relationship marketing.
But after introducing mass marketing the use of relationship marketing began to disappear. The new discovery in marketing system diminished the importance of relationship marketing. Due to the increase of competition in today’s business world, the importance of relationship marketing is immensely felt by the companies. Even they appoint some relationship managers to make the relationship strong. Now, to survive in the competitive market, relationship marketing can be used as an effective tool.
Relationship Marketing:-
Relationship marketing is a form of marketing that evolved from direct response marketing in the 1960s and emerged in the 1980s, in which emphasis is placed on building longer term relationships with customers rather than on individual transactions. It involves understanding the customer's needs as they go through their life cycles. It emphasizes providing a range of products or services to existing customers as they need them.
Relationship Marketing is an approach which emphasizes the continuing relationships that should exist between the organization and its customers. It emphasizes the importance of customer service and quality and of developing a series of transactions with consumers.
Transaction marketing and Relationship marketing:-
The aim of relationship marketing is to extent the buyer and seller relationship. On the other hand, transaction marketing involves a single short time exchange with a distinct beginning and ending. So in order to get a clear idea about the distinction between the two terms, some important points have been given below:
1. Transaction marketing put emphasis on short term focus, while relationship marketing on long term focus.
2. In transaction marketing the customers are prone to be more sensitive to price, whereas in relationship marketing they are less sensitive to price.
3. In transaction marketing quality of products is important; on the other hand, in relationship marketing quality of interaction is more important.
4. Transaction marketing cares for monitoring market share, but relationship marketing takes care of managing the customer base.
5.
Evolution of relationship marketing theory:-
Relationship marketing has a brief history through which it came to a being. At first, Bound Jackson applied the term relationship marketing in 1970. Then the researchers both in the
With the passes of time the concept ‘customer lifetime value’ has been discovered and it emphasis on the retaining the customers rather than attracting new customers. To maintain ‘customer lifetime value’ depends mostly on relationship marketing.
Elements of relationship marketing:-
The tools that are used for implementing relationship marketing in an organization are considered as elements of relationship marketing. These are given below:
1. Financial Bond:-
In order to retain the customers, the company often provides their customers with different financial facilities that encourage them to buy their products and these facilities helps to create a bond between them and it is termed as a financial bond. It always doesn’t serve the purpose of the company.
2. Social Bond:-
Socials bonds are some tools of relationship marketing. It plays an important role in ongoing exchange of the partners. This bond can be made strong through multilevel contacts among parties. Social bonds include these most important elements such as promise, trust and commitment.
a) Promise:-
Promise plays an important role in retaining the customers in relationship marketing. To give assurance to the customers promise must be given and at the same time it must be kept. Otherwise, the evolving relationship cannot be maintained and enhanced. Keeping promises is an important way of attaining customer satisfaction.
b) Trust:-
No relationship marketing is possible without the trust of the customers. To build good relationship with customers’ marketer need to create trust among the customer. So, their must be a belief in the other partner’s worthless. If trust is absent in relationship marketing, relationship will break.
c) Commitment:-
Another significant element of social bond is commitment. To develop mutually beneficial relationship both effective commitment and calculative commitment are prerequisite.
Activities of relationship marketing:-
To create a strong relationship marketing program a marketer should perform one or more of the following functions:
- Social reinforcement:-
Social reinforcement is to be provided. It indicates to a customer’s esteem and affiliation needs. For example, many banks insurance companies sent calendars to their clients at New Year.
- Reassurance:-
The second function is reassurance which involves the concepts of trustworthiness. It helps to make the relationship strong. For example, some automobile companies call their customers if their vehicles serve better or not to provide reassurance to their customers.
- Benefit reinforcement:-
To tell a customer about a beneficial sight of a product is known as benefit reinforcement. For example, the salesman remains his customer of the standard and durability of his product.
- Solve customer problems:-
Another function of relationship marketing is to solve customer problem. It helps to enhance the relationship among them. For example, a doctor may recommend his patient to another doctor concerned with the particular disease.
- Customization:-
Customization is one of the functions that comprise relationship marketing. It performs to meet the need of their customers. For example, the
- Service enhancement-
To deal with the customers in a loyal or cordial way is termed as a service enhancement. The purpose of the service enhancement is to improve the bond between them.
Relationship marketing in
In
The importance of adapting relationship marketing in
1.
2. To convince the educated and conscious customers who are in search of better service, relationship marketing is the most effective process.
3. For fierce competition it is important for the organizations to pay more attention in creating strong relation with their customers. Because, in the competitive situation options are available to the customers. To retain the existing customers’ relationship marketing has more alternative.
4. The reason why relationship marketing is important in
5. Relationship marketing is important to make customers less price sensitive. As most of the buyers in
Conclusion:-
It is considered that relationship marketing is a paradigm shifted from the conventional marketing mix approach. Now in the highly competitive market, retaining the existing customers is more important than attracting new customers. So marketers are now creating strong relationship with their clients by applying many relationship marketing tools. Relationship marketing helps to retain current customers. To survive in the competitive market especially in
Traffic
Traffic congestion
Traffic congestion is a condition on networks that occurs as use increases, and is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased queuing. The most common example is the physical use of roads by vehicles. When traffic demand is great enough that the interaction between vehicles slows the speed of the traffic stream, congestion is incurred. As demand approaches the capacity of a road (or of the intersections along the road), extreme traffic congestion sets in. When vehicles are fully stopped for periods of time, this is colloquially known as a traffic jam.
Causes
Traffic research still cannot fully predict under which conditions a "traffic jam" (as opposed to heavy, but smoothly flowing traffic) may suddenly occur. It has been found that individual incidents (such as accidents or even a single car braking heavily in a previously smooth flow) may cause ripple effects (a cascading failure) which then spread out and create a sustained traffic jam when, otherwise, normal flow might have continued for some time longer
Because of the poor correlation of theoretical models to actual observed traffic flows, transportation planners and highway engineers attempt to forecast traffic flow using empirical models. Their working traffic models typically use a combination of macro-, micro- and macroscopic features, and may add matrix entropy effects, by "platoon" groups of vehicles and by randomizing the flow patterns within individual segments of the network. These models are then typically calibrated by measuring actual traffic flows on the links in the network, and the baseline flows are adjusted accordingly.
It is now claimed that equations can predict these in detail:
Phantom jams can form when there is a heavy volume of cars on the road. In that high density of traffic, small disturbances (a driver hitting the brake too hard, or getting too close to another car) can quickly become amplified into a full-blown, self-sustaining traffic jam...
A team of MIT mathematicians has developed a model that describes how and under what conditions such jams form, which could help road designers minimize the odds of their formation. The researchers reported their findings May 26 in the online edition of Physical Review E.
Key to the new study is the realization that the mathematics of such jams, which the researchers call 'jamitons,' are strikingly similar to the equations that describe detonation waves produced by explosions, says Aslan Kasimov, lecturer in MIT's Department of Mathematics. That discovery enabled the team to solve traffic jam equations that were first theorized in the 1950s
Economist Anthony Downs, in his books Stuck in Traffic (1992) and Still Stuck in Traffic (2004), argues that rush hour traffic congestion is inevitable because of the benefits of having a relatively standard work day. In a capitalist economy, goods can be allocated either by pricing (ability to pay) or by queuing (first-come first-serve); congestion is an example of the latter. Instead of the traditional solution of making the "pipe" large enough to accommodate the total demand for peak-hour vehicle travel (a supply-side solution), either by widening roadways or increasing "flow pressure" via automated highway systems, Downs advocates greater use of road pricing to reduce congestion (a demand-side solution, effectively rationing demand), in turn plowing the revenues generated there from into public transportation projects. Road pricing itself is controversial; more information is available in the dedicated article.
Dhaka, the capital city of
The city-dwellers, city-planners, policy makers, the experts and researchers who think about the city will unanimously agree that
The inhabitants living in this city are now approximately over 10 million, although there is perhaps no statistics about the exact number of population of
Among others, notable causes of traffic jam include violation of traffic rules, deplorable road condition, random stoppage of vehicles, unauthorised parking and use of footpath illegally. Moreover, for growing urbanisation and affluence, the number of vehicles is also rising, contributing to more and more traffic jams. Narrow roads and congestion are aggravating the situation further. To quote AKM Shahidul Haque, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner that one of the main reasons of traffic-jam is due to unauthorised parking of vehicles here and there.
It is learnt that registered number of rickshaws available in
There are three bus terminals in the city. These are: Mohakhali, Gabtoli and Sayedabad. There is a bus stand at Phulbaria, Gulistan. There are innumerable numbers of ticket counters adjacent to main traffic points. The worst traffic-vulnerable points include, among others, Jatrabari, Hatkhola, Shapla Chattar, Gulistan, Dainik Bangla, Paltan, New Market, Science Laboratory area, Shahbag, Bangla Motor, Sonargaon-crossing, Panthopath, Farmgate, Manik Mian Avenue, Asadgate, Shyamoli, Kalyanpur, Gabtoli, Mirpur-Goolchakkar, Mohakhali, Khilgaon, Banani, Mouchak, Kakrail and Malibagh. Now-a-days residential areas are also experiencing heavy traffic-jam. The areas include Dhanmondi, Banani, Gulshan and other prime residential locations. This is due to establishment of many schools, colleges, private universities and other educational institutions in those areas. Moreover, many offices, particularly private-owned offices and factories, are also located in the residential areas resulting in heavy traffic-jam. Anybody crossing the areas can easily visualise the situation is grave as students with their guardians are waiting and waiting to reach destinations and others going to their work places.
Everyday work-hours are unnecessarily wasted due to traffic jam. It has a great economic impact on production and thus on our economy. Traffic-jam causes untold sufferings to the people going to offices and various destinations.
Traffic-jam causes air pollution which affects the respiratory tract, causes irritation, headache, fatigue, asthma, high blood pressure, heart diseases and cancer. Experts say if this trend continues unabated, most residents of the metropolis would become exposed to the risk of those ailments and different other health hazards and complications. The development of mental faculty of children would be impaired by lead pollution that could also affect the central nervous system and causes of renal damage and hypertension. The massive traffic congestion is taking its toll on human health, economy, environment and other anthropomorphic activities. This price tag is rather high when people have to spend hours unnecessarily on the road in sweltering heat, not to speak of the high humidity. The resulting misery generated by high heat and humidity takes its toll in human health. To add insult to the injury, the unpleasantness this high misery index generates slows down the productivity of a person.
The traffic problem of Dhaka is hindering the growth of this city and, at large,
By any calculation, if we note,
Under the above perspective remedies are recommended as follows:
1. Policy makers, city planners, researchers and the related directorates and offices must sit together and find ways and means to address the problem. Coordination is very urgent and important.
2. Readjustment of office timings depending upon the nature of job of the offices.
3. No shop or other installation be allowed in the footpaths and nearby.
4. Every year Traffic Week is observed by the concerned department. More and more awareness be created to achieve the goal.
5. Shifting of educational institutes namely, private universities, school and colleges and other offices from residential zone to outskirts of the city.
6. More and more fly-overs and over-bridges be constructed to address the problem.
7. It is learnt that a mega plan is under consideration for underground rail. The plan be speeded up. The World Bank, IMF and ADB or other donor agencies may be approached in a planned way to materialise the plan.
8. Restriction on import of old and unnecessary vehicles be imposed rigidly.
9. There may be three blocks from
10. Traffic management should be improved further for which necessary training or facilities may be available ..
11. Unregistered rickshaws must be withdrawn arranging alternatives for their employment.
12. Unauthorised parking of vehicles be stopped.
Traffic-jam takes serious turn during the holy month of Ramadan. In this view, concerned authorities are requested to look into the matter for a better situation for the benefit of the people. For easy and uninterrupted movement,
It is reported that Government has decided to withdraw about 70,000 (seventy thousand) old and dilapidated vehicles from the road. Very old and decrepit vehicles will not be allowed to ply. All these measures are aimed at mitigating the problem.
Dreaming of a clean city free from traffic jam
YES, we are dreaming of a clean city free from traffic jam. This is about Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh Dhaka will unanimously say that these are lacking here. The city is now burdened with many problems namely - housing problem, sanitation problem, problem-related to water-logging etc. Yet, among many other problems, Dhaka city has been experiencing severe traffic jam which is a burning issue now-a-days.
The inhabitants living in this city are now approximately over 13 million, although there is perhaps no statistics about the exact number of population of Dhaka city. Survey carried out randomly by different authorities provided different data about the number of population living in the city. However, it is estimated that population of Dhaka will not be less than 15 million and yet the city is experiencing an influx of population everyday from different parts of the country due to the opportunities available here and lack of opportunities in the departing areas.
There are different types of vehicles namely car, bus, jeep, truck, minibus, microbus, auto-rickshaw, tempo, mini-truck, motor cycles and innumerable numbers of rickshaws. Many of the vehicles that ply on Dhaka 's streets daily are faulty and emit black smoke in excess of the prescribed limit. Black smoke is primary unburning carbon that is agglomerated into small particles caused by over-load and faulty engine condition of the vehicles.
Among others, notable causes of traffic jam include violation of traffic rules, deplorable road condition, random stoppage of vehicles, unauthorised parking and use of footpath illegally. Moreover, for growing urbanisation and affluence, the number of vehicles is also rising, contributing more and more traffic jam. Narrow roads and congestion are aggravating the situation further.
There are three bus terminals in the city. These are: Mohakhali, Gabtoli and Sayeedabad. There is a bus stand at Phulbaria, Gulistan. There are innumerable numbers of ticket counters adjacent to main traffic points. The worst traffic-vulnerable points include among others: Jatrabari, Hatkhola, Shapla Chattar, Gulistan turn, Dainik Bangla, Paltan, Newmarket, Science Laboratory area, Shahbag, Bangla Motor, Sonargaon-crossing, Panthopath, Farmgate, Manik Mian Avenue, Asadgate, Shyamoli, Kallayanpur, Gabtoli, Mirpur-Goolchakkar, Mohakhali, Khilgaon, Banani, Mouchak, Kakrail and Malibagh etc.
Now-a-days residential areas are also experiencing heavy traffic jams. The areas include Dhanmondi, Banani, Gulshan and other prime residential locations. This is due to establishment of many schools, colleges, private universities and other educational institutions in those areas. Moreover, many offices, particularly private-owned ones and factories are also located in the residential areas resulting in heavy traffic jam. Anybody crossing the areas can easily visualise how the situation is grave as students with their guardians are waiting and waiting to reach destinations and others going to their work places. Everyday work-hours are unnecessarily wasted due to traffic jam. It has a great economic impact on production and, thus, on our economy. Traffic jam causes untold sufferings to the people going to offices and various other destinations.
Traffic jam causes air pollution. This affects the respiratory tract, causes irritation, headache, fatigue, asthma, high blood pressure, heart diseases and cancer. Experts say if this trend continues unabated, most residents of the metropolis would become exposed to the risk of those ailments and different other health hazards and complications. The development of mental faculty of children would be impaired by lead pollution that could also affect the central nervous system and cause renal damage and hypertension. The massive traffic congestion is taking its toll on human health, economy, environment and other anthropomorphic activities. This price tag is rather high when people have to spend hours unnecessarily on the road in sweltering heat, not to speak of the high humidity. The resulting misery generated by high heat and humidity takes its toll in human health. To add insult to the injury, the unpleasant aspects that this high misery index generates slow down the productivity of a person.
We may dream of a clean city free from traffic jam. This is possible if the policy makers, city planners, researchers and the related directorates and offices sit together and find ways and means to address the problem. Coordination is very urgent and important. Office timings may be re-adjusted, depending upon the nature of job of the offices. No shop or other installation should be allowed on the footpaths and nearby. Every year TRAFFIC WEEK is observed by the concerned department. More and more awareness has be created to achieve the goal. Shifting of educational institutions, namely private universities, schools and colleges and other offices from residential zones to the outskirts of the city can partly help address the problem. More and more fly-overs and over-bridges can be constructed to address it.
It is learnt that a mega plan is under consideration for underground rail. The plan can be speeded up. The World Bank, IMF and ADB or other donor agencies may be approached in a coordinated way to materialise the plan. Restriction on import of old and unnecessary vehicles can be imposed rigidly. There may be three blocks from Tongi Bridge
Road planning should accordingly be made for easy traffic movement. Traffic management should be improved further for which necessary training or facilities may be available. Unregistered rickshaws can be withdrawn, arranging alternatives for employment of the rickshaw-pullers. Unauthorised parking of vehicles should be stopped.
If we all work in a coordinated way with sincerely and honestly -- and last but not the least with patriotism -- success towards a clean Dhaka city free from traffic jam should not be far away.
Traffic congestion has a number of negative effects:
- Wasting time of motorists and passengers ("opportunity cost"). As a non-productive activity for most people, congestion reduces regional economic health.
- Delays, which may result in late arrival for employment, meetings, and education, resulting in lost business, disciplinary action or other personal losses.
- Inability to forecast travel time accurately, leading to drivers allocating more time to travel "just in case", and less time on productive activities.
- Wasted fuel increasing air pollution and carbon dioxide emissions (which may contribute to global warming) owing to increased idling, acceleration and braking. Increased fuel use may also in theory cause a rise in fuel costs.
- Wear and tear on vehicles as a result of idling in traffic and frequent acceleration and braking, leading to more frequent repairs and replacements.
- Stressed and frustrated motorists, encouraging road rage and reduced health of motorists
- Emergencies: blocked traffic may interfere with the passage of emergency vehicles traveling to their destinations where they are urgently needed.
- Spillover effect from congested main arteries to secondary roads and side streets as alternative routes are attempted ('rat running'), which may affect neighborhood amenity and real estate prices.
- Pollution caused by slow moving traffic. This is exacerbated if heavy diesel vehicles are part of the traffic flow.
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