Most of the city streets were clogged with traffic yesterday afternoon as a larger number of city dwellers came out ahead of hartal today and tomorrow.
The situation worsened as processions headed towards a reception to the prime minister on parliament premises. The National Citizens' Committee to Celebrate the Sea Victory organised the programme.
Traffic slowed to a crawl on Manik Mia Avenue and in Farmgate area because of the processions bound for Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban around 2:00pm.
Due to the first-term examinations in many schools yesterday, hundreds of students and their guardians suffered ordeals of traffic gridlock.
Several Uttara residents at noon told The Daily Star that vehicles moved at a snail's pace from Radisson Hotel area on Airport Road. It took them over an hour more than what is usually needed to reach their destinations.
The road from Malibagh intersection to Bangla Motors was also jam-packed around 1:00pm.
Meanwhile, people were seen hurriedly getting back to their homes fearing pre-hartal violence on the streets.
BNP yesterday afternoon declared fresh hartal programmes from today to get back its missing leader M Ilias Ali. Last week, it enforced a three-day shutdown on the same issue.
Hartal supporters in the afternoon started arson attacks on vehicles in the city causing panic among the city dwellers.
However, a high official of the DMP's traffic wing claimed the vehicular movement was as usual yesterday.
While going to Paltan from his Baridhara residence, he saw the traffic was normal, the official added.