What you are experiencing in the photo is the everyday look of Dhaka - the city where I live!
Thousands of overhead wires, millions of people on the streets, street food carts and small vendors here and there, random car & motorbike parking, and the rush! This is what it looks like living in a densely populated city. But this is what makes the city life, this is what provides food to many...
Just to let you know the average traffic time of Dhaka is around 1 hour. But in reality, it's more than that. People usually spend on an average 2 hours on the street every day to reach their office and come back home. So going for some small work means we would spend almost 3 hours on the street though the distance is very short.
I had some work outside, decided to take the intercity bus. During pick/office hours the streets get too much traffic. So I choose to go outside after 11.00 am. But I couldn't skip the traffic.
Inside of the bus.
Don't expect anything fancy in intercity buses. Though there is some exception in VIP routes mostly the buses look like this.
Fortunately, there was empty sit on the bus otherwise during office hour many have to stand until they reach their destination. People are mostly used to this life/accept their fate but yes, it's frustrating.
And the random things you will get to see here and there!
Here, you will get to see a lot of rickshaws (man pulled vehicles) but they are not allowed on most of the main roads. So if you have some work there and don't use a private vehicle then you have to walk like miles.
It took me a while to find the address I'm looking for in all of this chaos. And my work was done in just 15 minutes. Then I took another ride for almost 50 hours to come back home.
What a life!
My respect for all of those that are facing this traffic every single day.
khub sundar, khub bhalo concept ar photo gulo khub ei sundar utheche. 🙂
Thanks.
Dhaka city is very similar to Lagos in lifestyle and view based on your pictures and how you describe it.
I could remember when I was young, I was being punished for coming late to school, despite that I've to leave home by 5am so I can get to school on time, and the earliest I've ever arrived at school was 7:30am due to traffic and gridlock.
And now that I'm grown up and hustling, I understand better, there this particular route at Sango tedo axis of Lagos where on a normal day without gridlock you'll drive past within 20minute. But once it's work and school closings hour, you can spend upto 4-5 hours on the same route due to the gridlock. And unfortunately there's not alternative route, so this is more or like our ordeals daily.
You got it right all because you have gone through the same. It's lively and all but it mostly feels worse. I wish the traffic would be more manageable but seems like the Govt doesn't have the same idea.
I wish to leave this city someday.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
You're welcome...
In my opinion, I think the government know where the problem lies and what they ought to do to solve it, but they have this mindset that if they put things in place to stop our struggles, then we won't have a need for them, so they'll rather fix the portholes before elections and promise to expand the meet our needs once they got elected those are there one of their lay down strategy of getting elected pertime.
I wish you luck in your bid to moving to a better and comfortable place my friend, I pray fortune smile on you to make that desire come to fulfilment with ease.
That's totally it. There's a rule to not sanction any private cars anymore + more than one car per head/family. But people who can afford are taking the ill manners and the govt officials also doing do because of money.
There are so many other problems that this seems like is in less priority.
I also wish sonner or later I would manage to leave this city and stay in my countryside.
Thanks for putting your thoughts in. See you around.
🤔, it's well, and it'll sure end with praises soonest.
Have a blessed day ahead.
Large office and courts should be moved out of Dhaka. And The number of rapid transit should be increased. As like as metrorail, subway.
I wish that could happen soon. But there's no sign that Govt has the intention rather day by day everything is centralizing in Dhaka.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
The density reminds me of some parts of my city too. Sometimes development in the city looks uneven. Some areas have beautiful fancy city views, other parts are chaotic.
Geez, it took long hours for the round-trip only for 15 minutes work? It's so frustrating. In Jakarta people mostly used ojek (taxibike) to avoid the traffic and to get their destination faster. Especially now there are taxibike online apps booming with their promos and discounts. How about Dhaka?
I agree with you. This is also very similar here, some areas are well managed like where I live and others are chaotic.
We also have bikes, apps and all. But the amount of vehicle is huge compared to what it should be according with the proportion of the population. Everyone is buying private cars and things are getting worse.
Thanks for sharing your experience. Have a good day ☀️🌸
For people with money, buying private cars is one of the ways to minimize the frustration in the middle of the traffic. Even if they're stuck in traffic, at least they're in a comfortable car with AC and listening to the music they like rather than being stuck in a hot and crowded bus. But but if a lot of people buy private cars, it will cause traffic jams and chaotic even more 😁
Have a good day too 💐
I agree with you on this point. That'swhen we need govt to take action.
I wish we could see what impacts we are creating as a whole.
It cannot take 50 hours to come back to your house :D :P And, it's time for them to replace that bus. It has had enough. Give it a break. I think this is the reality of any other major cities in the global south. They may vary by some degree but overall they have similar issues to deal with. You did not mention the constant beeping of horns. That takes your soul out but you get used to it after a while.
It's almost same here in Southeast Asia, yes.
Living in this city for more than 15 years but now it feels like I can't take it anymore.
Anyway, I have to be optimistic as there's no alternative for now.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Have a great day.
Does Dhaka have a toll road?
As a city that has a dense population, there are often traffic jams if there is no toll road.
We have some overpass and underpass but not like the other developed cities and they are not also enough. We need better management actually.
Thanks for your thoughtful feedback.
yes friend. it is true that there are frequent traffic jams around the nation's capital city, unless you live in a state area. as I know that Dhaka city is one of the metropolitan cities that very dense in the Bangladesh region. In Indonesia, it is the same in big cities. even though we have some flyovers, but we must have better management like the country more forward
The thing is, there are so many other problems govt has to take care of, this is not their priority.
I wish things could be different.
@tipu curate
I love walks like this that give us a real feel of life in a place
Thanks for joining Wednesday Walk :), I truly enjoy exploring the world virtually each Wednesday seeing walks from all around the globe and feeling I am there and experiencing it all myself, such as I did in your post just now :)
Truly, we get to see so many things, it's another view of life.
Thanks :) :)
exactly
have a great day
Apakah di dhaka mempunyai jalan tol.
Sebagai kota yang memiliki padat penduduk sering sekali macet kalau tidak ada jalan tol.