Every year, passengers face inconvenience during the Eid journey. Long traffic jams are created all the highways due to the large number of vehicles on the highways at a time.
The situation becomes even more unbearable when construction work on the road continues.
Taking the advantage of gridlock, a group of miscreants commit robberies in passenger vehicles. This turned the joyous Eid journey into sadness.
To overcome this situation, several decisions were taken at a recent inter-ministerial meeting held in the capital to ensure safe and smooth travel for passengers on roads, highways, bridges and railways on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr.
The meeting identified 159 potential spots on highways that could cause traffic congestion during the Eid.
The Public Safety Division has recommended the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges to pay special attention to these spots before and after Eid to avoid traffic congestion.
In addition, roads on national highways and important corridors have been asked to be repaired or renovated seven days before Eid to make the journey joyous.
They include Dhaka-Bypass, Nabinagar-Chandra, Dhaka-Joydevpur-Mymensingh, Dhaka-Joydevpur, Dhaka (Bhogra)-Chandra-Elenga, Elenga-Hatikumrul-Bogura-Rangpur, Dhaka-Sylhet, Dhaka-Chittagong, Dhaka-Gopalganj-Khulna, and Bhanga-Barisal.
But the problem is that the repair and widening of highways will not complete before Eid.
As traffic congestion increases on the part of unfinished roads, there is also the risk of accidents, robberies, and theft.
As a section of transport owners see Eid as an opportunity for additional profits, they entice drivers to take more trips.
Sometimes, drivers are made to work 15-16 hours at a time, which increases the risk of accidents.
Reportedly about 12 million people who go out of Dhaka city during Eid and most of them are working people.
Meanwhile, the deputy commissioners of Lalmonirhat, Tangail and Narayanganj expressed concern that traffic could come to a standstill if repairs are not made before Eid.
The Highway Police said that about 700 police personnel will work to ensure smooth Eid journey.
They claim that the condition of 38 to 39 roads is very bad and needs to be repaired urgently.
It is expected that flawless security will be provided to people on their way to and from Eid and everyone’s Eid journey will be safe.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police has decided to form an auxiliary police force from the private security forces.
We hope that if they are used for public security rather than guarding big events, the law and order situation will improve.
