Tailbacks take toll on holidaymakers

The rush of holidaymakers caused the country's highway network to go haywire yesterday, inflicting untold sufferings on those going home to celebrate Eid-ul-Azha with their loved ones.

Bus journey from the capital to most northern and southern districts took five to six hours more than the usual time due to long tailbacks on highways and delays at Paturia ferry ghat.

Home-goers had to wait at bus terminals for hours like they did on Thursday, as traffic jam on highways led to a collapse in bus schedules.

The situation was bad on Dhaka-Chittagong highway.

Ashraful Islam, a university student, started for Chittagong from Sayedabad by a bus around 5:00am yesterday. After seven hours, the vehicle couldn't even reach Daudkandi, around 100 km from the capital.

"Usually, it takes three and a half hours to reach Haripur, a few kilometres from Daudkandi. It's 12:00noon, and I am still stuck at Daudkandi," said Ashraful.

A nine-km-long tailback was created from Meghna bridge to Meghna-Gomti Bridge on Dhaka-Chittagong highway, reports a correspondent.

The tailback in Daudkandi part of the highway became almost unmanageable, said Sergeant Kamaruzzaman Raj, who is in charge of Bhaber Char highway police check post.

Sufferings of women and children, who remained stranded on highways for several hours in scorching heat, were aggravated by unavailability of washrooms and baby foods.

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader blamed lack of discipline as one of the main reasons behind traffic congestion on highways.

"Our main problem is lack of discipline on roads. Nobody has patience. Vehicles run on the wrong side, which worsens traffic congestion on highways," he told reporters after inaugurating an underpass in Shorabo area of Gazipur.

He warned ministers, lawmakers and VIPs of legal action for driving vehicles on the wrong side.

“We cannot say for sure that people's journey home will be totally comfortable, but we will try our best,” added the minister.

The picture at Gabtoli Bus Terminal was similar to what it was on Thursday.

Passengers suffered as buses got delayed for four to five hours. Transport operators blamed it on tailbacks on highways.

Bus services from Dhaka to south-western districts faced problems as buses couldn't reach their destinations on time because of disruption to ferry service at Paturia.

"We arrived here at 7:00am and were scheduled to leave for Chuadanga at 8:00am. But the departure was delayed and we finally boarded the bus at 4:00pm,” said Md Prince, who along with his family members, was waiting at Darshana Deluxe counter at Gabtoli.

"Only God knows when we will reach home," he said.

Buses going to southern districts had to wait in queues at ferry terminals for several hours to cross the Padma river. Thousands of people remained stuck on Dhaka-Aricha highway for hours either for traffic congestion or unavailability of ferries at Paturia.

DHAKA-TANGAIL HIGHWAY

Excessive flow of traffic to the northern districts caused vehicles to move slowly on Dhaka-Tangail highway.

Home-goers suffered terribly due to long tailbacks at different points on the highway.

Traffic movement there was quite smooth before the Juma prayers. But the situation changed following a rise in traffic flow that resulted in tailbacks at different points from Gorai in Mirzapur upazila to Natiapara in Basail upazila, said highway police officials.

Hundreds of buses wait for ferries at Paturia ferry terminal in Manikganj yesterday. Photo: Zahangir Shah

Mohammad Moeen Uddin, a passenger of a Tangail-bound bus from the capital, said he started from Kalyanpur around 6:00am and reached Tangail at 1:00pm.

“The bus remained stuck for four hours in tailbacks in Chandra, Board Ghar, Cadet College, Hatubhanga, Gorai, Sohagpara, Deohata, Mirzapur, Dhalla, Pakulla, Jamurki and Natiapara areas,” he said.

Mahbub Alam, superintendent of police in Tangail, visited the highway and gave instructions to policemen to take necessary steps to ease traffic jam.

He told this newspaper that vehicles were moving a bit slowly on the highway due to an increased flow of vehicles, including cattle-laden trucks.

“Law enforcers are trying their best to keep the traffic flow normal. The overall situation is better than that of the last two days,” said the SP.

TAILBACK AT PATURIA GHAT

Hundreds of buses, trucks and other vehicles were stuck in a five-km-long tailback up to Paturia ferry terminal in the evening, reports our local correspondent.

Fourteen of the 19 ferries were carrying vehicles from all four ghats, but those failed to cope with the additional number of vehicles, said sources at Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC).

Strong current in the river also slowed down the movement of ferries, they added.

Passengers had to wait up to 10 hours at the ghat.

Mrinalini, who works at a private firm, left Dhaka for Khulna along with her husband and two children at 10:00pm on Thursday.

"Our bus reached Paturia around 3:45am [yesterday]. We are yet to board the ferry,” she told our local correspondent around 2:00pm.

"I had brought extra food for my son and daughter, considering the long journey home. But those ran out in the morning,” said Mrinalini, adding that she also bought some dry foods from roadside shops.

"The biggest problem I have faced is the unavailability of washrooms for women," she added.

SHIMULIA-KAWRAKANDI FERRY

Shimulia-Kawrakandi ferry service, which connects the capital with the southern part, also failed to handle the rising number of vehicles.

Hundreds of vehicles remained stranded at Shimulia end. Many people were seen crossing the mighty Padma by speedboats, risking their lives, reports our Munshiganj correspondent.

Mosharraf Hossain, who is in charge of Mawa police outpost, said around 70 buses, some trucks and around 400 other vehicles were waiting in a queue for ferry yesterday afternoon.