Gridlock as people start rushing back

As the holidaymakers started streaming back to their workplace, traffic congestion was back on Dhaka-Tangail highway yesterday, a major route connecting the northern districts with the capital.

Traffic jams were seen at different points on the 25km stretch of the highway from Chandra, Gazipur to Mirzapur, Tangail due to a huge flow of Dhaka-bound vehicles, causing sufferings to both passengers and transport workers.

Worsening the situation was a narrow stretch in Dherua where vehicles were repeatedly stopped due to a busy level crossing, said traffic police. After the Eid vacation, the holidaymakers started returning to Dhaka on Thursday afternoon, but traffic pressure picked up yesterday morning, they said.

Abul Hossain, driver of a Dhaka-bound passenger-laden pickup truck from Sirajganj, said his vehicle was stuck in Kurni area around noon. “I could move only 4km to Mirzapur bypass after one hour,” he said.

Mizanur Rahman, driver of a bus from Dhaka to the north, said he saw heavy traffic pressure in Chandra of Gazipur while passing the area around 10:00am. It took him two and a half hours to travel 20km to Mirzapur bypass area, he added.

The highway was still gridlocked when the report was filed at 2:00pm.

A traffic inspector, Iftekhar Hossain, who was stationed at Deohata in Mirzapur, told The Daily Star that the highway saw more than double its usual traffic in the area. He, however, claimed that there was no vehicle stuck there.

He said a large number of law enforcers were working to keep the highway free from traffic congestion, but they were facing problems because of working long hours without any break, and summer heat and dust on the road.