One of the busiest roads in the capital is the Satrasta-Tejgaon Railgate Road, which is now known as Mayor Annisul Huq Road. Even a few days ago, it was completely occupied by trucks and vans. There were rows of trucks, covered vans, and pickups on either side of the road. It was a spot of traffic congestion and chaos.
However, things have started to change.
With the efforts of the Tejgaon traffic division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), the vehicles parked on either side are now gone. As a result, the suffering of people using the road has decreased.
There are a dozen educational institutions in the Farmgate-Tejgaon area. Also, there are a number of public and private offices in the area, including several television and newspaper outlets. As a result, thousands of vehicles and pedestrians frequent the road every day.
Around 3,500 to 4,000 trucks and covered vans ply on this road every day, sources said.
According to the traffic department, a separate lane for rickshaws uses 7 feet of space on both sides of the road. But it was being used as a parking space for these trucks and vans.
Alam, a local businessman, said rickshaws were not allowed to use the lane. The traffic system remained ineffective for a long time.
Officials say the city corporation has been officially informed to remove the road divider.
According to the local traffic department, the capacity of the Tejgaon truck stand is 650-700 vehicles, but almost five times more trucks and covered vans come and go at the stand. As there is no trip on Fridays and Saturdays, most of the trucks are parked, occupying the road on Thursday night.
Being a Key Point Installation (KPI) area, some truck-covered vans stay in Tejgaon even during the day. According to the Tejgaon Traffic Department, the common man's suffering will be eased, and the road will be kept clear from 7am to 1pm on weekdays in honour of late city mayor Annisul Huq.
In this regard, Tejgaon Traffic Zone Assistant Commissioner of Police Snehashish Kumar Das said: “We have been working for several days to evict the vehicles from the road. We have taken this decision considering the suffering of the people. The vehicles had been evicted from the spot several times before, but the results did not last long. This time, under the guidance of Tejgaon Division Deputy Police Commissioner Mostak Ahmed and following discussion with stakeholders, we are trying to clear the road.”