Huge tailback on Dhaka-Tangail highway

Hundreds of passengers and transport workers suffered immensely on the Dhaka-Tangail-Bangabandhu Bridge route because of severe traffic over a 40km stretch of the highway in Tangail, after countless people began driving on the wrong side of the road. Highway police said the tailback began to form around 6am Saturday. It has forced commuters and transport workers to spend twice the time to cross this stretch of the highway. The traffic congestion tormented people with almost no access to water and toilets. According to highway police sources, a vehicle proceeded to drive on the wrong side of the road near Basail upazila, triggering the gridlock. After the incident, traffic came to grinding a halt for nearly an hour, as the traffic began to worsen in parts of the highway. Elenga Highway Police Officer-in-Charge Tariqul Islam said they were trying their best to help the people. “More police have been deployed to help the flow of traffic on the highway,” the OC added. In addition, ongoing work on a four-lane project on the highway, potholes and puddles coupled with the immense flow of vehicles aggravated the situation. Earlier, the highway saw an hour-long disruption of traffic after a truck carrying potatoes broke down at Elenga, Tangail, around 4am on Friday. The tailback that was caused by the incident, and covered 30 kilometers between Rasulpur and the Bangabandhu Bridge on the highway, lasted until the afternoon.