Eid home rush: 15kms tailback on West, 20kms on East of Bangabandhu Bridge

A 15 kilometres long tailback was created on the west side of Bangabandhu Bridge in Sirajganj as number of North Bengal-bound vehicles increased on the highway ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr.

The traffic congestion on the road continued till around noon, the time of filing of the report, our Pabna correspondent reports quoting passengers and drivers.

Md Mintu, a bus driver, told this correspondent that he was happy with the Eid Journey as there was no problem on the highway till last night.

But his sufferings started when the bus reached Elenga in Tangail early today.

Although he crossed the Bangabandhu bridge by early morning, he could not reach the Hatikumrul intersection of Sirajganj till around 10am, the driver added.

Md Mosaddek Hossain, officer-in-charge of Bangabandhu Bridge West police station, said that as the numbers of north-bound vehicles have increased two times than usual, the vehicles were moving slowly on the west side of the bridge.

Traffic was moving slowly, the situation was not that of a complete gridlock, the police official said adding that there were additional police forced on the highway to oversee the situation.

Md Lutfar Rahman, officer-in-charge of Hatikumrul Highway Police Station, said problems of vehicle movement have been created on the 25-km road from Bangabandhu Bridge West to Hatikumrul for some days due to renovation work.

He said vehicular movement has already started through one lane of the newly constructed bridge in Nalka area and roads have been widened at various places on the highway ahead of Eid but there is some problem due to the pressure of additional vehicles.

Adequate number of law enforcers are working on the highway, added the police official.

Our Tangail corresponded adds:

Vehicles are moving slowly in the 20 kilometres area at the eastern side of Bangabandhu Bridge on Dhaka-Tangail highway due to heavy rush.

According to police and drivers, vehicles were moving slowly on the highway from Bangabandhu Bridge's eastern side to Pouli of Tangail's Kalihati till around 9am.

Ataur Rahman, in-charge of The Elenga Highway Police Station, said that "There was traffic congestion in the early hours on the eastern link road of Bangabandhu Bridge as the pressure of north Bengal-bound vehicles increased since last night. After 9 am, vehicles were moving at a slow pace."