Holidaymakers suffer due to traffic chaos; hundreds of vehicles stuck in tailback
A long tailback on the Dhaka-Tangail-Bangabandhu Bridge Highway, specially from Elenga to Bangabandhu Bridge, has caused immense suffering to thousands of homebound people ahead of the Eid-ul-Fitr.
The Road Transport and Bridges Ministry's control room reported at 9:50am that traffic congestion from Elenga of Tangail to Bangabandhu Bridge's toll plaza is due to increased number of vehicles.
There were reports of gridlock at the Chandra intersection as well.
"We are working with the local administration and police to reduce jam," according to the control room.
Scores of holidaymakers have complained of traffic chaos.
Shamim Rahman, a private service holder, left Kalyanpur around 8:30pm yesterday to spend the Eid holidays with family members at his village home in Thakurgaon's Ranisankail upazila.
His trip was smooth until the bus reached Baipail on the Nabinagar-Chandra road.
"We got stuck in traffic. We crossed the Chandra intersection in the morning," Shamim said over the phone to this correspondent. He crossed Bangabandhu Bridge around 9:00am.
There were traffic jams all the way up to Bangabandhu Bridge, Shamim said, adding that scores of buses were stopping at various points on the route from Baipail to Chandratrying to get passengers.
Another holidaymaker, Arafat Rahman, boarded a bus around 8:45pm yesterday to go to Sailakupa upazila in Jhenaidah from Kalyanpur.
"Traffic was heavy from Nabinagar to Bangabandhu Bridge. I reached Jhenaidah around 9:45am today," he said over the phone to this correspondent.
Like Shamim and Arafat, thousands of holidaymakers travelling to northern districts suffered due to traffic jams since yesterday evening. The worst victims were women and kids.
Following the closure of the garment factories yesterday afternoon, the number of people returning home increased. In the evening, thousands of people began leaving for home. There were snarl-ups at Baipail and Chandra intersections, as well as in Gabtoli and Savar areas.
Meanwhile, those travelling to the southern districts through the Padma Bridge also suffered due to traffic jams in Chankharpool and Jatrabari areas in the capital. The situation is likely to get worse as the number of vehicles are going up.
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