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Dhaka is currently witnessing a massive surge in frenzied public movement. Roads and side streets are teeming with noisy honking traffic, with a tsunami of commuters rushing in every direction causing chaos and commotion everywhere. Travelling by any mode of transport has become an uphill task as traffic congestion has worsened. Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) is seemingly in a losing battle despite special measures introduced to control traffic during Ramadan.
Pedestrians are also facing unprecedented difficulties getting from one point to another because street vendors have virtually turned the whole city into their marketplace. Not only have they taken over the footpaths but also spilled over onto the roads, causing even greater disruption to the regular traffic chaos and unspeakable suffering for the city dwellers.
While the illegal occupation of footpaths is a perennial problem, it reaches a menacing new height with the uncontrolled explosion of the migrated population in the capital ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr. It is a common tendency for the rural poor to head to Dhaka ahead of Eid in search of economic opportunities. Upon their arrival in Dhaka without skills and knowledge, peddling is a natural choice for them amongst other job pursuits such as rickshaw pulling, domestic work, and manual labour and begging for their survival.
From time to time city authorities execute eviction drives to clear the footpaths and busy intersections of hawkers, but such sporadic action has proved to be futile. Within days the old hawkers return or a fresh batch replaces them. It is because the hawkers belong to an unholy nexus amongst politicians, police and musclemen, and these vested interest groups like to keep the footpaths and intersections under illegal occupation. Just imagine how much money is made by selling one-time possessions for so many shops and stalls, and then by collecting daily tolls. With such a lucrative moneymaking racket in play, one cannot expect the footpaths and side streets to be anything but chaotic.
In the absence of any determined strategies and due to the seemingly better profitability of street shops, compared to shops within the market, many shoppers opt for makeshift shops. Many hoteliers are also choking the pavements to stagnation with makeshift stalls. Even kitchen markets are overflowing from their premises right onto the footpaths selling miscellaneous items including fish and chicken. As for buyers, if they can buy the items they need from footpath vendors cheaper, why go inside and pay more? Thus the problem of illegal occupation of footpaths becomes worse.
As things stand, the authorities seem to have lost both direction and will to make Dhaka a walkable and livable city. Nobody wants to deprive anyone of making a living and taking care of their family. Even so, sometimes unpopular decisions of ridding footpaths and roadsides of illegal occupants have to be taken to create better mobility for vehicles and pedestrians. Hawkers may be allowed to run their business from designated areas or streets that could be closed once a week and utilised as hawkers' markets.