Demo staged demanding safe roads, exemplary punishment to mountaineer Reshma killers
Speakers at the programme said the communication system in the country had been built giving priority to private cars’ movement
Mountaineers, road safety activists, cyclists and different social organisations yesterday staged a demonstration in the capital to ensure road safety and exemplary punishment to the people responsible for mountaineer Reshma Nahar Ratna's killing.
Poribesh Bachao Andolon, Green Force, WBB Trust, Bangladesh Mountaineering Federation, Dhaka Cycling Club, Surokkha Foundation, Bangladesh Hawkers Foundation, Bangladesh Garo Adivasi League, Dhaka Juba Foundatioin and some other organisations held a sit-in programme in front of the National Museum in Shahbagh at 11:00am to press home their six-point demand.
The demands include ensuring exemplary punishment to the people responsible for Reshma's death, immediate full implementation of 'Road Transport Act 2018', separate lanes for bicycles on main roads, extensive implementation of prioritisation policy that prioritises the pedestrian as per the law, a stop to reckless driving late at night and early in the morning and introducing big buses to restore discipline on the roads.
Abu Naser Khan, chairman of Poribesh Bachao Andolon, presided over the programme while Nishat Mazumdar, the first Bangladeshi woman to scale Mount Everest, Kazi Sameeo Sheesh, teacher at Dhaka University, and cyclist Aminul Islam spoke on the occasion among others.
Speakers at the programme said the communication system in the country had been built giving priority to private cars' movement.
But it was necessary to have a good public transport system and big passenger friendly buses, they said.
Reckless traffic movement was going on due to the delay in the implementation of Road Transport Act 2018, they added.
The speakers further said that Poba and the like-minded organisations had been encouraging people to ride bicycles as well as demanding separate lanes for bicycles. Though the use of bicycles has increased recently, there are no separate lanes or necessary facilities for bicycles in the city.
"As a result, Reshma had become the tragic victim of such a reckless driving," they said.