Heavy vehicle pressure, multiple breakdowns on the Jamuna Bridge and continuous rain caused a 47-kilometre tailback on the Dhaka-Tangail-Jamuna Bridge highway on Wednesday.
The congestion stretched from the Jamuna Bridge toll plaza to Gharinda in Tangail Sadar upazila and from Natiapara to Gorai, causing severe suffering for Eid holidaymakers, particularly women, children and elderly passengers.
Police and Jamuna Bridge authorities said severe congestion in the Chandra area of Gazipur overnight triggered a long queue of vehicles from the Jamuna Bridge to Mirzapur.
As a result, around 20 kilometres of congestion formed between Gorai in Mirzapur upazila and Natiapara in Delduar upazila, while another 27 kilometres of tailback developed between Gharinda and the Jamuna Bridge.
Authorities said one-way traffic movement was introduced in two phases to manage the pressure, from 12:20am to 1:40am and again from 4am to 7am on Wednesday.
They also said five vehicles broke down on the bridge after midnight, worsening the situation.
Afaz Mia, travelling from Mouchak to Pabna, said vehicle movement had been slow since Chandra.
“It took nearly five and a half hours to travel a road that usually takes one and a half hours. I am still stuck near Pauli on the highway,” he said.
Passenger Khodeja Begum, who was travelling to Natore, said she had faced slow-moving traffic since Mouchak in Dhaka.
“There has been congestion since Gharinda in Tangail. I could not even cross Tangail in nine hours,” she said.
Jamuna Bridge Site Office Executive Engineer Syed Riaz Uddin said rain, excessive traffic pressure and vehicle breakdowns on the bridge caused the congestion.
“The situation is expected to improve gradually during the day,” he said.
Tangail Superintendent of Police Muhammad Shamsul Alam Sarkar said traffic pressure remained high across the Tangail section of the highway.
“Rain has slowed vehicle movement. We hope the situation will normalize soon,” he added.
