Dhaka city lane illegally made off-limits to vehicles

A 90-yard stretch of a road, in the capital's Shyamoli, has been illegally made off-limits to all types of vehicles.

Holy Lane connects Ring Road near Shyamoli Cinema Hall in the capital with Mirpur Road and is important for people seeking to take a short cut betweent the roads.

The opening of the lane, on the Ring Road side, is protected by a bamboo bar and a guard is there to control the traffic.

On the bamboo bar a signboard is put up reading “the road is prohibited for rickshaws and motorcycles, directed by Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC)”.

Meanwhile on the Mirpur Road side, Holy Lane is permanently blocked by erecting concrete and iron pillars, leaving narrow space in between them for human movement.

"The road is blocked for vehicles from outside for the safety of the residents in the area," councillor of ward-30 of DNCC Abul Hasem Hasu told The Daily Star.

"The house owners on the lane have applied for restricting vehicular movement for their safety, and I forwarded it to the mayor for his consideration. But they haven't yet given permission," he said.

Asked, then how the owners have restricted vehicular movement before getting any permission, the councillor said they have been doing it for two to three months on an experimental basis.

However, a number of rickshaw-pullers told this correspondent that the road has been blocked for over six months.

An engineer of DNCC, seeking anonymity, said following an allegation they went to the area to free the road in the first week of January.

"When we moved to demolish the concrete pillars to free the road, residents of the road obstructed us,” he said. 

“With the influence of some government high-ups, they stopped the drive," he added.

Afterwards, they applied for restricting vehicular movement through the local councillor, the engineer said.

If the road is open people can take a short cut to Mirpur Road from Ring Road, which helps reducing the traffic jam, he said.

No one can obstruct a public road unless they get permission from the city corporation on the ground of public convenience, Aminul Islam, chief estate officer of DNCC, said.

"I don't remember giving such permission to anyone to restrict any road named Holy Lane," he added.

Contacted, Assistant Commissioner (traffic-west) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Amirul Islam said as far as he knew, the bar has been put by the residents of the lane.

They cannot solve this kind of problem as this is not in their jurisdiction, he added.