Thousands of city dwellers on their return to the capital after observing Eid ul-Fitr got stuck in tedious tailbacks yesterday (August 17) on the highways and at ferry terminals.
The acute traffic jams continued for the third consecutive day, causing Dhaka-bound passengers great inconvenience on Dhaka-Tangail highway; at Daulatdia ghat, Goalanda upazila, Rajbari; and at the ferry terminal in Kaorakandi, Madaripur district.
The 75-kilometre-long gridlock on Dhaka-Tangail highways spread from Chandra in Gazipur to the eastern end of Bangabandhu Bridge.
Hundreds of long-distance buses, trucks and other vehicles were seen queued for hours upon hours to cross the river Padma at Kaorakandi and Dauladia ferry ghat.
The pontoon at Paturia ferry ghat went out of order which led to an unusual tailback in Manikganj.
BIWTC, police, drivers and bus owners said the pressure of extra passengers, rundown vehicles and rain brought about untold discomfort for the passengers.
The holidaymakers were in a mad rush to reach Dhaka, as offices and educational institutions would start running in full-swing the following day.
Police, drivers and passengers on the Dhaka-Tangail highway said they had never seen such tailbacks before. Women and children were seen knocking on the doors of roadside houses, requesting the homeowners to let them use their washrooms.
According to our correspondents, the tailback from Kaliakoir in Gazipur to Jamuna Bridge’s east end in Tangail began to improve around 11:30am, as some vehicles could move slowly.
The drivers and passengers said a number of vehicles went out of order at different places on the highways on Thursday afternoon and Friday midnight.
A passenger from Thakurgaon said he boarded a Dhaka-bound bus on Friday afternoon but could not cross Mirzapur in Tangail until 4pm the next day.
Members of a family who were in an ambulance with a 10-year-old patient said they were heading towards Tangail to see doctor in the morning but failed to make any progress.
“We heard that the government would turn this highway into four lanes, but what about the lanes?” questioned the family head Haji Abdul Gani.
A Hanif Paribahan passenger Kamal Hossain from Rangpur said he got stuck in the traffic jam at Tangail and it took him additional six hours to reach Kaliakoir.
About the four-lane project, Mirzapur Roads and Highways Department Deputy district Engineer Mamunur Rashid said they would start constructing the road within next one year.
Additional Superintendent Md Asikuzzaman of Gazipur highway police said vehicles were moving slowly from Tangail to Gazipur’s Chandra, Zirani, Mouchak and Konabari area.
He hoped the situation would be under control within the evening.
Asikuzzaman said high officials of police including highway police’s Additional DIG Md Mizanur Rahman and Assistant Police Superintendent of Gazipur Md Akbar Hossain were monitoring the situation.
The police official admitted that for extra rush many unfit and local buses were plying on the roads and a number of them went out of order in the midway.
Since Saturday morning, police were seen stop vehicles in the city and let only the Dhaka-bound buses ply on both sides of the road for quick movement.
According to highway police, vehicles from 26 districts, including 16 northern and four south-western districts, were moving on the two-lane highways.
