According to the correspondents of the Dhaka Tribune, tailbacks on Dhaka-Tangail, Dhaka-Chittagong and Dhaka-Sylhet Highways left hundreds of home-bound people stranded for hours, causing immense sufferings to the holiday makers.
In Narayanganj, a 20km long tailback ensued on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway stretching from Kanchpur to Meghna while an 18km long tailback occurred on Dhaka-Sylhet Highway stretching from Kanchpur-Bhulta.
Mollah Taslim Hossain, traffic in-charge of Shimrail said: “The tailback on Dhaka-Chittagong Highway occurred as three trucks have gone out of order on Meghna-Kanchpur bridge on Wednesday.”
Sheikh Shoriful Alam, officer-in-charge of Kanchpur Highway police camp said: “At least six vehicles met with accidents on Dhaka-Sylhet and Dhaka-Chittagong Highways, causing an extreme gridlock.
“The highway traffic and police team are giving 24 hours service so that the normalcy on the roads returns soon.”
In Munshiganj, The Dhaka-Chittagong four-lane Highway witnessed a 13km long traffic congestion due to the additional load ahead of the eid.
Kamruzzaman Raj, Bhoberchar highway police camp in-charge, said: “Due to additional pressure of vehicles carrying home- bound people, a 13km long tailback occurred on Dhaka-Chittagong Highway stretching from Meghna bridge to Gomoti bridge.”
In Tangail, Dhaka-Tangail- Bangabandhu Bridge Highway is experiencing a 62km long tailback due to the closure of Paturia-Daulatdia ferry services.
Traffic Sargent Iftekhar told the Dhaka Tribune: “The extreme traffic congestion on Dhaka-Tangail Highway ensued due to the haphazard movement of cattle-laden vehicles and the closure of the Paturia-Daulatdia ferry services.”
Tangail Police Superintendent Md Mahbub Alam told the Dhaka Tribune: “A total of 750 police officials are working on the highways in three shifts to ensure swift passage of home-bound people carrying vehicles. Besides, four teams of Rapid Action Battalion also patrolling at the area to ensure safety to home bound people.”
A mobile court led by DC Md Mahbub Hossain has also been monitoring the situation on the highways, added the police official.
However, our correspondents from Chittagong and Gazipur reported that the situation is normal in the adjacent highways.
In Chittagong, no traffic congestion has been reported on Dhaka-Chittagong Highway stretching from Chittagong to Comilla till filing the report at 5pm on Thursday.
Bar Awlia Highway police station OC Md Saleh Ahmed Pathan told Dhaka Tribune: “Traffic on Dhaka-Chittagong Highway stretching from Chittagong to Comilla is quite normal. Additional police have been deployed in the key points on the highway to tackle the additional load.”
In Gazipur, the traffic situation has been reported normal on Dhaka-Tangail Highway.
Khalilur Rahman, Gorai police camp OC, said: “Although the situation is normal now, the highway may witness tailback in the night.”
Traffic gridlock on the highways, operation of unfit vehicles and mismanagement in ferry services have become one of the most common phenomena during the eid rush.
According to Mozammel Huq, secretary general of Jatri Kalyan Samity, around 3 million people leave the capital by road, some 1.5 million by waterways and around 400,000 by train to celebrate eid with their near and dear ones. The additional load on roads and highways cause frequent and fatal road accidents.
According to Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity, at least 200 people were killed and 746 others injured in accidents on roads, waterways and railways across the country during 12 days before and after the Eid-ul-Fitr holiday.
The number of casualties came from 121 incidents of accidents that took place in between July 1 and July 12.
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