Highways empty ahead of Eid

The highways in the country have been witnessing much less traffic than usual after a few days of heavy rush of Eid travellers.

As the roads were empty, people are going back to their village homes without any hassles to celebrate the upcoming Eid on Thursday.

The traffic situation in the Dhaka-Chittagong highway was normal as only a few private vehicles were seen plying on the road.

Duadkandi highway police station Officer in-Charge (OC) Abdullah Al Mamun said the number of vehicles and passengers is lower than the last few days.

Empty highway in Gazipur on Thursday, May 13, 2021 Dhaka Tribune

The Dhaka-Tangail highway was also mostly empty on Thursday as no long haul buses were seen plying on the roads. However, local vehicles including microbuses, pickup vans, motorcycles, and trucks were seen transporting passengers. 

The highway has been seeing long tailbacks of vehicles for the last few days as a large number of people from Dhaka were returning homes in northern districts.

Tangail’s Superintendent of Police Sanjit Kumar Roy said although there was extra traffic pressure on the highway in the  last two days, the traffic on Thursday was normal as no vehicles were stuck at any places. 

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The same situation was seen on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway.

The roads were empty with some buses waiting for passengers at the terminal. However, the number of passengers was lower than usual.

Number of buses are seen waiting for passengers at the terminal in Gazipur on Thursday, May 13, 2021 Dhaka Tribune 

Salna (Konabari) highway police station Officer in-Charge (OC) Mir Golam Faruk said: "There is no pressure from home-goers today [Thursday]. Most people left last night. Gazipur district highway and district police are deployed for maximum security.”

New record at Bangabandhu Bridge

A new record has been set for the number of vehicles crossing the Bangabandhu Bridge during this year’s Eid travels amid Covid-19 restrictions, said the bridge authorities.

In the last 24 hours from 6am on Wednesday to 6am on Thursday, 52,753 vehicles have crossed the Jamuna River by the bridge. The previous record was set on Wednesday when 51, 942 vehicles passed. 

The bridge authority also reported the highest amount  of toll collected in a single day since its inauguration. A total of Tk299,000 was collected as tolls in the 24 hours to Thursday morning. Earlier the record was Tk284,000 during the last Eid-ul-Adha holidays.

The bridge authorities have been collecting tolls since the bridge was opened in 1998.