Heap of hassles on highways

Made to wait long hours to catch buses at terminals, Eid-ul-Azha holidaymakers are facing yet more sufferings as the slow-moving traffic is tailing back for several miles on the highways. It took several hours to cross Narayanganj's Kanchpur Bridge through Dhaka's Sayedabad on Wednesday, two days before the Eid. The travellers spent four hours for the journey from Gabtoli in the city to Savar against less than an hour on usual days. Vehicles on the road from Chandra Chourasta (Intersection) in Gazipur to Mymensingh were almost static because of the pressure. The scenario was same on the highway in Tangail leading to the north. A bus had waited for two hours but could not cross the Kanchpur Bridge after starting from Sayedabad in the evening. “Huge tailbacks on both sides in this area. Even the Dhaka-bound buses cannot enter the city for the jam,” said a bdnews24.com correspondent.

Significant number of lorries, trucks and other heavy vehicles were seen on the road, defying a highway ban on such vehicles in the lead-up to the Eid.
Senior Correspondent Abdur Rahim Harmachi said he started for his village home in Pabna from Technical on a microbus at 4pm. He reached Savar at 9pm.
He said he could have reached almost home by this time if there were no traffic congestions.
“The vehicles are stranded. We are crossing some hundred yards and have to stop for five to 10 minutes again for the jam,” he said.
Driver Rajib Ahmed said the city buses were also taking people home to make some extra profit during the Eid.
A passenger of JR Paribahan on Dhaka-Jhenaidah route, Rupok Hasan, said the bus left at 9:30pm, a good four hours behind schedule.    
Sub-Inspector Saiful Islam, Bhaber Char Police Outpost in-charge, said there was traffic congestion along the five-kilometre stretch from his area to Meghna Bridge on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway.
Bangabandhu Bridge (West) Police Station OC Helal Uddin said there was no congestion but the pressure of vehicle was high. bdnews24.com's Sirajganj Correspondent Israil Hossain Babu said the traffic jam stretched from Dhaka to Tangail's Mirzapur.
- biplab