Huge traffic jams cause sufferings to Eid travellers

Staff Reporter :
The Eid travellers on way to homes are experiencing intermittent traffic gridlocks due to heavy pressure of vehicles on the highways and streets to celebrate the Eid-ul-Azha on July 10.
The vehicles were seen moving with slow pace on the roads when the transports were leaving Dhaka or entering the capital.
People experienced traffic gridlock at different points of Dhaka-Taingail, Dhaka-Mymensingh and Dhaka-Sylhet highways due to heavy pressure of traffic movement.
The traffic jam has been compounded due to the movement of the sacrificial animals loaded.
Sources said that some 30 km long traffic jam by the trail of vehicles was found on the Dhaka-Tangail highways on Thursday.
The vehicles were moving at a snail’s pace, causing immense sufferings of the people inside the vehicles.
Travellers experienced 13km traffic gridlock from Nabinagar to Chandra highway in the afternoon, while five long traffic jams was created from Baipail to Itkhola and three km traffic jam from Ashulia to Dhour area.
The traffic jam in the scorching heat made people to suffer extremely on the roads for hours before they reached their destinations.
As the Chandra-Savar-Ashulia belt is the house of many industries, most of the workers of the factories left in the afternoon because it was the last day of their offices.
They began to rush to the Savar-Ashulia-Chandra highways to catch buses to reach their homes in order to celebrate the Eid vacation with their kith and kin.
With the rush of huge number of people, the total area turned into a bustling hub for human sea and it intensified the traffic gridlock for hours.
Ibrahim Mia, a passenger bound for Rangpur, said, “I am going home to celebrate the Eid. But the traffic jam is irritating. I was stuck on the Dhour Beriband. Normally it takes 10 minutes to reach Ashulia bridge but it is now taking more than one hour.”
Madud Ahmed, a passenger bound for Natore, said, he was stuck in the traffic jam in the Baipail to Chandra highway.
“It took three hours to reach Chandra from Baipail. In the normal time, it needs only 20 minutes,” he added.
Ripon Siddique, a driver of Classic Paribahan said, “The vehicular pressures started to  
increase in the afternoon soon after the closure of the offices and factories. People are now swarming in the streets to catch buses and other vehicles to reach home.”
President of Gazipur Road Transport Employees Union Sultan Ahmad said, “As it was the last day of the week, the factories in the Gazipur area were closed for Eid holiday. As a result, workers started rushing towards the bus stands to catch buses.”
“Due to the heavy pressure of people in the highways, it creates severe traffic jams. Naturally people will suffer in the traffic jam,” he added.
In order to tackle the traffic jams, the police administration has deployed additional forces in the highways but the mounting pressure of vehicles has made the situation worsen.
However, police and other forces were seen trying to ease the traffic jam in the highways so that people can travel without much trouble.
“We have deployed at least 200 police at different points of the highway. They are trying to tackle the traffic jam,” Office-in-Charge of Savar Police Station Atiqur Rahman said.