Incessant rains spoil festive mood
Severe gridlock caused by heavy rainfall and potholes on roads, spoilt the mood of homebound passengers on different routes, just before Eid-ul-Fitr. Thousands of homebound passengers were seen at Sadarghat Launch Terminal and Kamalapur Railway Station since early morning. Long tailbacks were reported on Dhaka-Mymensing, Dhaka-Tangail and Dhaka-Chittagong highways since morning. Our correspondent from Tangail reported that huge traffic congestion on Dhaka-Tangail Highway was causing immense suffering to the homebound passengers.
The congestion started from Chandra Intersection to Elenga Intersection from 10 am. Police desperately tried to ease the congestion and the situation eased a little in the afternoon. A passenger, Noman, told the Independent that he left Dhaka at 11 am for Madhupur and reached Tangail at 5 pm.
It is learnt that the all Dhaka bound transportation moved very slowly. But Tangail and North Bengal bound buses were stranded for long time
Abdus Satter, a driver from North Bengol said, that due to rainfall since last night all modes of transport ran slow. The deserted and narrow highway as well as lazy drivers violating traffic rules, caused congestion. It eased a little in the afternoon, said Arif Hossain, traffic inspector of Tangail.
Passengers at the inter-district bus terminals had to sit idle inside the buses on the roads for long time due to rain. Due to overnight rain, there was water congestion at different points of Dhaka-Mymensign Highway, such as in places like Bashan, Signboard, Maleker Bari, Bara Bari, western part of Chandra Intersection and Bhogra Bypass. As a result, buses were plying slowing in the morning; though the situation improved in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, passengers on Dhaka-Chittagong highway suffered a lot due to recarpeting of the road at Meghna Bridge; a truck broke down at Comilla creating an about 30-km-long gridlock.
According to the report of Bhaberchar Highway Police Camp in Gazaria, the tailback started around midnight and continued till morning.
Officer-in-charge of Daudkandi Highway station Jubayer Alam said, One side of the highway at Meghna Bridge area was closed for two hours due to reconstruction work, resulting in traffic congestion.
A bus driver of Chhalchhabil Paribahan, on the Dhaka-Gazipur Highway, Sujan said: Buses were moving slowly from Barabari from under Gazipur City Corporation to Bhogra Bypass, due to water congestion, resulting in a severe traffic jam.
Executive engineer of Gazipur Roads and Highways, Sabuj Uddin Khan said they had made small canals beside the roads to remove water. He hoped that the traffic congestion would reduce after the rains stop.
Meanwhile, the goods carrying trucks on Paturia-Douladia and Shimulia-Kewrakandi river routes were suspended. Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) sources said, the plying of trucks would remain suspended on these river routes three days each, before and after Eid. However, raw materials and emergency goods carrying trucks will remain out of the purview of this suspension.
