Dhaka witnesses huge traffic snarl

Staff Reporter :
Capital city Dhaka has experienced huge traffic gridlock as the vehicles have remained at standstill almost all main streets since 12.30 pm.

The vehicles could not ply a single wheel on Satrasta Mohakhali Street, Farmgate-Shabag, Mirpur Road, Shabag-Palton Road, Gulistan-Sadarghat-Babubazar Raod and Motijheel-Tikatuli Road.

Moreover, huge traffic was seen until 9.00 pm on New Market area, Motijheel-Tikatuli Road.

Abdul Awal, a CNG driver, remained stuck for an hour in Science Lab area and expressed his anger saying what kind of city it is? I switched off my CNG for an hour without getting any signal and I don’t know when it will be okay to run.

Regularly we have faced such kind of traffic in every street of the capital city. We could not earned more as we have to pay our daily rent and also maintain our family, he continued.

SohelArman, a man from Tangail came Dhaka aiming to treatment of his ill mother at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) was waiting in a Uber in front of Krishibid Institution Bangladesh (KIB),Farmgate for one and a half hours.

He said my mother’s doctor appointment was at 10:00 am. Now it is almost 10.15 am. I am still at Farmgate.

I don’t know when I will reach BSMMU.
SohelArman said I feel very helpless as my mother’s appointment may be canceled. It was very important for her to meet with the doctor.

A rickshaw puller Shafiq in the Kakrial area said, “On a normal day, I make Tk 800-1000. But due to the traffic congestion, people hardly did ride on rickshaws. Do not get me wrong. People like me who make a living on the road have to pay the price.”

Helper of an Ajmeri Glory bus Mohammad Turag said the bus runs from Gazipur’s Chandina to Dhaka’s Sadarghat twice a day. “But we will not go for the second trip today.”

“It is not wise to do any activities on the roads. We incur financial loss and our passengers also suffer,” he said.

When asked about the traffic jam, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Jahangir Alam of Tejgaon Traffic Division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) said: “There was heavy traffic jam in the morning at various important intersections including BijoySarani, Sat Rasta intersection. Due to the pressure of office-goers, traffic slowed down in the morning.”

“Besides, we observed on Monday, we had to wait for a long time on the road due to gridlock. We are working on these issues,” said the police official.