10 kilometres traffic gridlock on three highways in N’ganj

Severe traffic congestion stretching nearly 10 kilometres has brought immense suffering to commuters on three major highways in Narayanganj, as damaged sections and large potholes on the Bhulta-Gausia road forced vehicles onto alternative routes.

Since Wednesday morning slow-moving traffic has been reported on the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway, Dhaka-Sylhet Highway, and the Asian Highway. The situation worsened throughout the day, creating long queues of vehicles across a vast area.

A visit to the affected areas at noon showed vehicles moving intermittently in Madanpur, Kanchpur, Shimrail, and Signboard areas. Cargo trucks, covered vans, long distance buses, and private cars were seen stranded for hours, causing extreme hardship for office-goers, students, and general passengers.

Drivers said that normal traffic movement on the Bhulta-Gausia road has been severely disrupted due to damaged sections of the road. As a result, most vehicles are being diverted through the Asian Highway onto the Dhaka-Chattogram and Dhaka-Sylhet highways. The excessive pressure of vehicles has triggered massive traffic congestion across the region.

A truck driver said, The condition of the Bhulta road is extremely poor. We are forced to use alternative roads, but now we are stuck in long traffic jams here as well.

Locals said traffic pressure on the alternative routes has been increasing for several days because of the deteriorating condition of the Bhulta-Gausia road. They fear the situation may worsen further if the road is not repaired quickly.

Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Kanchpur Highway Police Station, Md. Shamim Sheikh, said the heavy congestion on the three highways was caused by a large number of vehicles using alternative routes due to the damaged Bhulta-Gausia road. He added that additional highway police personnel are working to control the situation.