Friday’s ‘public reception’ for PM Hasina triggers traffic fears among Dhakaites

The news of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina returning home to a huge reception has apparently made the residents of capital Dhaka fret over facing a traffic mayhem on Friday.

Staff CorrespondentKamal Hossain Talukderbdnews24.com
Published : 29 Sept 2016, 05:43 PM
Updated : 29 Sept 2016, 06:12 PM

Some rang bdnews24.com up on Thursday to know whether they would be able to go the city’s Uttara the next day.

On being asked what was stopping them from going there, one caller, ‘Rozina’, said, “The prime minister is coming! Could you please tell me when will she land?”

Rozina lives with her husband at Ramna, but her parents live at Uttara. The working couple usually take Friday to visit them.

The other callers included those who had planned to enjoy the holiday outside home and students who are set to sit the 37th BCS preliminary exam and admission tests of Dhaka University and Jagannath University on Friday.

Capping off a 17-day trip to the US and Canada, Hasina will arrive in Dhaka on Friday afternoon. She is expected to land at Shahjalal International Airport around 5:15pm. 

The Awami League has announced a ‘public reception’ to welcome the prime minister for achieving UN-women 'Planet 50-50 Champion' and Global Partnership Forum 'Agent of Change Award' during the visit.

The leaders and activists of the ruling party and its affiliate organisations will line up along the streets from the airport to her official residence Ganabhaban to welcome her.

Commuters had suffered in massive traffic snarl-ups on Airport Road on Sep 22 when the BNP held a similar reception programme for Chairperson Khaleda Zia. She had returned home that day after performing Hajj in Saudi Arabia.

A day earlier, the capital also witnessed a similar traffic snarl when Awami Juba League Chairman Oman Faruq's supporters gathered to welcome him on his return from Hajj.

Based on those experiences, those who called bdnews24.com office wanted to know when the prime minister will land in Dhaka and when will she hit the road to reach Ganabhaban to figure out what the best would be to avert likely gridlocks.

Hasina on several occasions had changed her schedule to allow the general people and students to commute in the city quickly without getting stranded in tailbacks.

Even though Dhaka residents are worried that the ruling party’s plans for Friday may cause gridlocks, the city traffic police say there would not be much trouble as the programme is taking place on a weekly holiday.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on Thursday asked the Awami League leaders and activists to follow the law enforcers’ instructions and organise the reception in an orderly manner.

After hearing people’s concern, DMP Deputy Commissioner (Traffic-North) Prabir Kumar Roy told bdnews24.com: “We don’t think there will much problem because tomorrow is Friday.”

He said a large number of police personnel including two additional deputy commissioners, six assistant commissioners and 23 inspectors will be deployed on the roads to ensure that people are not stuck in traffic jams.

An assistant commissioner claimed that residents of the capital did not face any traffic chaos when the prime minister was given a similar reception on her return from the UN visit last year.

DC (Traffic-West) Liton Kumar Das said, “Organising the mass reception on Friday is helpful.”

When his attention was drawn to the fact that several exams were scheduled for Friday, he said, “Police have taken effective measures taking all issues into account.”

However, their assurances did not appear to calm the test-taking students.

A student from Azampur, who will compete for admission in Dhaka University’s ‘Ga’ unit, spoke to bdnews24.com about his thoughts on condition of anonymity.

“The exam will be held from 10am to 11am. The prime minister will land in the afternoon, but we’ll face traffic jam in the morning if Awami League leaders and activists throng the roads.”

On Friday, over 42,000 students will be vying for the 1,250 seats in the ‘Ga’ unit. They will have to sit the entrance test at 55 exam centres, both inside and outside the university campus.

Also, Jagannath University’s ‘C’ unit admission test will be held from 3pm to 4pm.

Many of the 27,816 students who will be taking this one are very concerned as the test and the prime minister’s reception will both take place in the afternoon.

Earlier in the day, the 37th BCS preliminary exam will be held between 9:30am and 11:30am. Most of the total 243,476 students are currently in Dhaka to sit the exam.