Vehicles at a standstill in gridlock on one side of Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue at Shahbag in Dhaka on Wednesday with processionists of Awami League and its front organisations marching towards Suhrawardy Udyan for the March 7th rally on the other side. — Focus Bangla The sufferings of commuters reached peak on Wednesday due to severe traffic gridlock at several points in the capital city as ruling Awami League held a grand rally.
The commuters also witnessed scarcity of transports at several other points of the city on the day.
The Awami League organised the rally at Suhrawardy Udyan to observe the historic speech of 7th March delivered by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on this day back in 1971.
The speech has been included in the Memory of the World International Register, a list of the world's important documentary heritage maintained by UNESCO.
Traffic snarls were observed in the surrounding areas of Suhrawardy Udyan as traffic police closed down Shahbagh, Kataban, Bangla Motor, Farmgate, High Court, Mirpur and some other intersections for easy arrival and departure of the participants.
This caused severe gridlocks along Manik Mia Avenue, Mirpur Road, Mohammadpur-Elephant Road, Karwan Bazar, Bijoy Sarani, Paltan, Moghbazar and other adjacent areas, witnesses said.
On the other hand, engagements of privately-run buses in carrying the supporters and gridlock in many areas created a shortage of vehicles at Uttara, Mohakhali, Mirpur, Gabtoli, Paltan, Motijheel, Gulshan, Shnatinagar, Bangla Motor and elsewhere in the city.
Raihan Sharif (Tomal), a student of University of Development Alternative (UDA) at Shankar, Dhanmondi told the FE that it took him one and half hours to reach his home at Segunbagicha. It usually takes him maximum forty minutes.
"I had to walk for more than 40 minutes as vehicular movements were closed at Katabon," he said.
Ms Monira, a resident of Mirpur-12, said she first came by a rickshaw up to Mirpur-10 and then got a bus until she had to get down at Khamarbari due to severe traffic jam. Then she had to walk up to BGMEA Complex at Karwan Bazar and took a rickshaw heading for Paltan.
"I started at 3:10 PM from Mirpur and had to wait for a bus for a long time. Then I took a rickshaw, then a bus, then walk and again a rickshaw to reach Purana Paltan. It took over four hours to reach the destination which is usually a two-hour journey," she said.
Ms Mili, a resident of Kathalbagan said: "I started for Mohakhali at 3:15 PM. There was a mad rush and I did not get any CNG auto-rickshaw or bus for more than one hour. Finally, I got an Uber to reach my destination from Green Road which took around another 40 minutes," she said.
Although there were less public transports on the roads, the number of private vehicles was more and the traffic congestion was created at various points and the traffic signals were for long duration due to mismanagement, she added.
As Dhaka experienced the traffic gridlocks, the Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader regretted for the sufferings and sought cooperation from the city dwellers to observe the historic day.
"Please be patient and cooperate with us in observing the historic March 7 even if you have to face sufferings on the roads," he said.
Earlier, the party organised various programmes on weekend. "But there are certain days, such as March 7, February 21, December 16 and March 26 that have to be observed on the due dates," he added.
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