Selfless service
A man from ultra-poor family has been working at BDR Gate in the town as a volunteer traffic signalman for over a decade for people's welfare.
Earlier, Hamidul Islam, 52, used to pull rickshaw to run his four-member family. BDR Gate, an important area of the town, always witnesses severe traffic jam. Before 2015, there was no traffic police in the busy area.
Seeing people's sorrows, one day Hamidul decided to work as traffic signalman in the area, said locals.
In February 2007, all on a sudden, he was seen controlling traffic in the area voluntarily and since then he has been reducing jam in the area by whistling from 8:00am to 8:00pm every day, said townspeople.
On-duty traffic police constable Sirazul Islam in the area said Hamidul helps traffic police control the traffic jam in this important point of the town.
Traffic jam is common scenario here due to railway level crossing and Hamidul is very much helpful in controlling traffic jam, so no unexpected incident occurs here, said Sirazul.
Hamidul said he wants to continue his volunteer job till his last day.
Each three-wheeler and battery-run easy-bike driver at BDR Gate willingly gives Hamidul Tk 5 to Tk 10 as token money every day. Thus, he earns Tk 150 to Tk 160 every day. With the little money, he bears education cost of his two school going children.
“We give Hamidul a little money for tea as he helps us a lot to control traffic in the area,” said Mozammel Haque, a three-wheeler driver at BDR Gate.
Asad Islam, a local businessman at BDR Gate, said he salutes Hamidul as he has set an example for others in participating in good work in the society.
Hamidul along with his wife Rahima Khatun and ninth grader son Rakib Islam and third grader daughter Pakhi Akhter live at an abandoned railway staff quarter in the town's Sahebpara area as he has no house and land.
Rahima said she helps her husband to maintain the family burden by earning from sewing clothes of others.
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