Traffic chaos before Eid

Traffic has been disrupted on Dhaka-Mawa and other northerly highways due to Eid travel pressure, road mishaps and mismanagement.

The Muslims in Bangladesh will celebrate Eid on Friday if the new Shawwal moon is sighted on Thursday.

Tens of thousands have been pouring over at bus and river-launch terminals in huge numbers since Wednesday to reach home for the vacation that starts Thursday.

Huge number of thousands of commuters were seen stuck at Dhaka-Mymensingh, Dhaka-Tangail and Dhaka-Mawa highways.

bdnews24.com Gazipur Correspondent Abul Hossain said a severe traffic snarl prevailed at the Chandra-Trimor area.

Chandra’s Konabari (Salna) Highway Police Station Sergeant Mohammad Sajjad Khan said traffic was ground to a halt for some time after a truck broke down at around 6am Thursday near Mirzapur area on Dhaka-Tangail Highway.

That left scores of buses stuck on one of Bangladesh’s busiest surface routes.

He said vehicles stuck in the snarl stretched from Chandra to Savar EPZ and for about seven kilometres towards Konabari, as they could hardly move forward.

Several police personnel were working there trying to break the gridlock and restore smooth vehicular movement, he added.

OC Mohammad Alamgir Siddique blamed the huge tailback on the battered condition of roads due to rain and excessive vehicle pressure.

Meanwhile, Naojor Highway Police Camp Sub-Inspector Iqbal Hossain said the scene was no different in Gazipur’s Bhogra Bypass intersection, Chandana-Chawrasta and Station Road area in Tongi.

He said local garments factories have declared holidays and people are rushing back to their hometowns.

As roads are broken in Bhogra bybass intersection and Chandana Chaurasta, traffic cannot move freely on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway.

Sabina Yasmin, a worker at Apex Garments in Kaliakair Safipur, had to wait for three hours at the Chandra intersection with her family before she got a transport for her village in Naogaon.

“We can’t maintain our schedule because of all the traffic,” said Md Shafique, Supervisor of Hanif Paribahan, which travels along the Dhaka-Rajshahi route.

A worker at Bhogra’s Star Light Sweater Alamgir Hossain said more than 50 workers from different factories had reserved seats in advance, taking into account the rush before Eid.

But they were still delayed due to the traffic.

“We are trying our best to resolve the traffic problem,” said Gazipur District Police Superintendent Abdul Baten. “But since the Eid holiday this year is shorter, almost everyone is going home at the same time. There are thousands of vehicles on the roads and they’re causing a traffic chaos.”

Our Munshiganj correspondent, Farhana Mirza said the Maowa Ghat, which connects the capital to southern highways, has been experiencing severe traffic snarls since early on Thursday.

“There are more vehicles than we can manage,” Assistant general manager of BIWTC Maowa Office SM Ashikuzzaman told bdnews24.com. “The traffic has now gone beyond Khan Bari and spreading towards Sreenagar’s Dogarhi.”

A worker at the Maowa Ghat said the Ro Ro Ferry Bir Shreshtha Ruhul Amin, which was stuck near Dubochar around 12am while going from Maowa to Kaorakandi, was retrieved eight hours later.

BIWTC employee Ashikuzzaman said 16 ferries are currently employed for passengers, but two more will be added from 11am.

At least 300 vehicles are stuck at Dhaka-Maowa highway as the toll collection at Dhaleshwari bridge was slower than required

The Shipping Minister’s PRO Md Jahangir Alam told bdnews24.com at 10:15am that he was stuck in line at the toll plaza for a long time.

Munshiganj Police Superintendent, Md Habibur Rahman said the problem is due to a shortage of manpower to collect the tolls and that police are trying to control the situation.