Unbearable traffic snarl compounds commuters' woes

Most of the main streets witnessed a massive gridlock in the city on Saturday following the processions brought out by Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the student wing of the Awami League, marking its 70th founding anniversary.
Vehicular movement almost came to a halt on important city streets including Banglamotor, Shahbagh, Dhaka University area, Matsya Bhaban, Topkhana Road, Paltan Crossing, Bijoy Nagar, Kakrail, Motijheel and Gulistan for hours.
As a result, many city dwellers especially the working people were seen reaching their desired destinations on foot.
Talking to the FE, one Anisur Rahman said it took at least three hours to reach his workplace in the city's Gulistan area from his Mirpur residence which usually takes an hour on normal days.
"I got into a bus which remained stranded for over an hour near Karwan Bazar because of the rally. So, I got down from the bus and started walking to my workplace at Gulistan," he added.
A senior citizen, Md Ashraf, said he walked to Paltan from Banglamotor as there was long tailback in the area for hours.
The rally started around 12:30 pm from Shahbagh and ended at Bangabandhu Avenue after parading different streets.
Besides, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) also announced a demonstration throughout the city on the day protesting denial of permission by Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) to hold a rally the previous day marking 'Democracy Killing Day'.
But BNP claimed that police barred their activists from staging protests at different points of the city on the day.
However, traffic returned to normal after the evening.
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