Commuters’ suffering inevitable on Sirajganj highway during Eid

Commuters visiting their homes in the country's North for Eid will face much suffering as the Bangabandhu Bridge west link road in Siraganj is in bad shape due to the ongoing widening and renovation works.

This road is the gateway to northern districts. Vehicles from 22 districts, including 16 from northern districts, travel through this highway daily. Around 20,000 to 25,000 vehicles travel during normal times, but this number increases two to three times during Eid.

Transport workers and passengers said even the highway gets clogged with vehicles during Eid due to the slow progress of the road's renovation work, causing immense suffering to homebound passengers.

Raoshan Yazdani, officer-in-charge of Bangabandhu Bridge West Police Station, said work to renovate 20 points of the highway, along with a 50-kilometre stretch from Bangabandhu Bridge west to Chandaikona highway via Hatikumrul is currently ongoing. Of this, at least 14 vulnerable places have a risk of traffic congestion, he said.

Under such circumstances, the road development project officials said the highway from Bangabandhu Bridge's west end to Chandaikona has been identified as risky for smooth traffic. Contractors have been directed to renovate these places within the 20th of Ramadan (three days from today).

During a recent visit, this correspondent saw potholes in various parts of the 50-km highway from the west end of the bridge to Chandaikona through Hatikumrul. Several lanes were not in good condition.

The highway at different places, including Konabari, Jhaail, Golchattar Food Village, Nalka, Pachlia, Mulibari, Syedabad, Chandaikona Bridge, Zamzam Hotel, Hatikumrul, Bhuyagati and Sahebganj, was in a bad shape.

Meanwhile, although the northern lane of the newly constructed Nalka bridge has been opened, the Dhaka-bound lane has been kept closed. Due to the closure of the Dhaka-bound lane, vehicles are moving through the old bridge with great risks, said transport workers.

Ashraf Ali, a truck driver travelling on the highway from Bogra to Dhaka, said, "This highway is full of potholes at several places. It's necessary to repair all those places immediately."

Bus driver Shamsul Haque said if there is a minute's slowness on this highway, 40 to 50 vehicles get stuck behind. "Additional police should be deployed at various places on the highway to prevent this traffic jam," he said.

Abul Kalam, another bus driver, said the administration should play a role in ensuring that drivers drive properly and follow the traffic rules during Eid.

Ekhlas Uddin, project manager of contractor HEGO-Mir Akhtar (JV), said, "Renovation work is going on. Hopefully, it will be completed within the 20th of Ramadan (April 10). We expect there will be no more congestion on this road after that."

"Five bridges on this road will be opened before Eid to prevent traffic jams. As a result, people will be able to return home without hassle," he hoped.

Arifur Rahman Mondal, superintendent of police in Sirajganj, said, "To reduce the suffering of passengers during Eid journey, they have discussed with the officers of the SASEC-2 project and the engineers of the contracting company and urged them to renovate the risky places on the highway."

"Some 20 places in 14 sections have been detected. The highway's renovation in these areas will reduce the possibility of traffic jams."

Like every Eid, district police members, along with the traffic and highway police, will work to keep the highway free from traffic jams, he added.