People were seen eagerly waiting for water taxi at the jetty on Hatirjheel to go FDC intersection from Badda. It was assumed by looking at their faces that they were not worried at all to reach their destination on time.This is not something common for Dhaka dwellers. People often do not know when they will reach their destination as the traffic system here is highly unpredictable. Dhaka is ranked as one of the top unlivable cities in the world and the traffic system here is very unbearable.The newly introduced water taxi service on Hatijheel lake has brought hope for the city dwellers as there is no traffic jam on water ways. People say that it takes only 15 minutes to go from Badda to FDC intersection by the water taxi. People used to spend one and half hour to go the same destination by buses or other vehicles. “This is a very good initiative. It takes very short time and that’s why I am going by water taxi though I have a private car,” said actor Debashish Biswas who was waiting to go FDC.Advocate Murad Ahmed, who was also in line, consider it as a gift for the city dwellers. He said, “We can reach Karwan Bazar from here only within 15 minutes.”He also said, “We have to wait in line in the afternoon as many people come to enjoy the ride.”Four water taxis travel through two routes from FDC intersection to Badda Link Road and to Rampura. The fare from FDC to Rampura is Tk 25 and to Badda Link Road Tk 30.A water taxi can carry 45 passengers at a time. Each taxi also has a small canteen, which sells cake, biscuits and other light snacks.Hatirjheel water taxi project in-charge Sohel Ahmed Babu told jagonews24.com, “The commuters and visitors ride on the water bus every day. The number of passengers increases in the afternoon.”The government took Hatirjheel project on 302 acres of land in 2007. It was opened for public on Jan 2, 2013. Then, there was not any public transportation service in the area.Hatirjheel circular bus service was introduced in the last year. Water taxi service was introduced on victory day of Bangladesh in the same year.The services ease travel to Karwan Bazar, Moghbazar, Dilu Road, Eskaton, Bangla Motor and Tejgaon for people from Badda, Gulshan, Rampura, Khilgaon and other eastern parts of the city.The services could be expanded to Gulshan Lake through Baridhara, said the project in-charge.(The article originally published in Bangla edition of Jagonews24.com is written in English by Zahidul Islam)