BCL rally adds to traffic snarls in city

A rally, brought out by the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) on its founding anniversary, turned the traffic congestion in the city worse Saturday, causing commuters to suffer for hours.
Witnesses said traffic movement in and around Shahbagh, Paltan, Gulistan, Elephant Road and Farmgate came to a complete halt due to the rally.
Though the day was a weekly holiday, queues of thousands of vehicles were created in and around these areas and the commuters had to walk miles to reach their respective destinations.
The BCL, the student wing of the ruling Awami League, brought out the rally with participation of thousands of activists from the Aparajeyo Bangla of the Dhaka University campus at noon. The rally crossed Shahbagh, Matsho Bhaban and Paltan areas to reach the party office at Gulistan.
It took more than an hour to complete the rally.
Moksedul Momen, a commuter crossing the Shahbagh area from Farmgate in a bus, said thousands of people walked a long way after waiting for an hour in buses and private cars.
"I started walking from Nazrul Islam Avenue near Kawran Bazar at 1pm after realising the situation. But I found the BCL rally crossing Paltan crossing around 2:00pm halting all vehicles," he told the FE.
However, commuters alleged that the traffic situation started turning bad since the morning due to processions moving to the campus from different areas.
They said the gridlock continued to torment the commuters till the evening as the traffic police could not ease the congestion.
Joint Commissioner (Traffic) Mosleh Uddin Ahmed said the traffic flow was disrupted in the city during the rally as pressure of vehicles was more than the usual for the weekend.
He said the traffic situation, however, turned normal at around 4:30pm.
The Joint Commissioner, however, said the traffic police had the preparations to control the situation for which transports could move even during the rally.
Witnesses said, the law enforcers were seen halting the normal traffic for ensuring smooth plying of pickup vans, buses, trucks and other modes of transport carrying rally participants to the venue.
The BCL organised the rally marking its 67th founding anniversary.
    smunima@yahoo.com