Dhaka-Tangail Highway: Paddy farmers endangering traffic in Mirzapur
The growing practice of drying paddy and straw, occupying parts of Dhaka-Tangail highway in Mirzapur upazila, is turning the vital roadway into a nightmare for vehicular traffic, especially at night.
Local Boro paddy farmers are resorting to using the highway and regional roads to dry wet paddy, harvested from submerged paddy fields, as the area lacks elevated paved grounds that would be suitable for drying the produce more conveniently, said locals.
Moslem Uddin, a farmer from Charpara in Mirzapur upazila, said, "What can I do? Where can I dry my paddies and straws? I've got no place to dry those at home."
"It is quite difficult to carry water-soaked paddies too far after harvesting those from paddy fields inundated with rainwater. So, I am drying my paddies beside the road, not on the road," said another farmer, Abdul Kader, from Dhalla area in the same upazila.
The practice did not cause much problem to road users over the last few months, when traffic on the roads remained at a bare minimum due to the countrywide shutdown. But now, with traffic movement on the rise after the recent relaxation of travel restrictions by the authorities, it is becoming a cause for concern.
As public transport vehicles are plying the roads in a larger number now, the risk of fatal accidents due to the hazardous practice is also growing, locals feared.
During a recent visit, this correspondent saw paddies and straws being dried on various locations of Dhaka-Tangail highway as well as the service road running alongside it in Mirzapur upazila. The locations include Pakulla, Kodim Dhalla, Chhoydana, Kurni, Dulla Mansur, Postkamuri, Dherua, Deohata and Sohagpur.
A CNG-run auto-rickshaw driver, Saiful Islam, said smaller vehicles, such as the ones he drives, can lose traction and flip over easily while driving on a road covered with straws or grains.
Bus driver Mohammad Ali, who drives on Dhaka-Tangail route, said driving the route has become relatively more hazardous lately as people have been drying paddies and straws on the highway, especially in Mirzapur area. "They should remove those from the highway urgently as those can cause fatal accidents any moment."
Contacted, Mohammad Moniruzzaman, officer-in-charge of Gorai Highway Police Station, told this correspondent that they were making farmers in Mirzapur and other upazilas aware that paddies and straws cannot by dried occupying the Dhaka-Tangail highway.
"We already removed many of the items from different places and also issued warnings to many of them. We will not allow drying of paddy or straw on the highway."
He also urged local volunteers and organisations to come forward and create awareness among farmers about how their occupying of the highway or the roads, with their produce, can cause fatalities.