Staff Reporter :
Massive gridlocks on different highways and ferry ghats continued on Saturday, collapsing bus schedule and making Eid travellers journey measurable.
Different points on Dhaka-Aricha and Dhaka-Tangail-Mymensingh and Dhaka-Chittagong highways witnessed a standstill of traffic movement on Saturday.
Several points of these highways had additional load of vehicles ahead of Eid. Most of the vehicles were cattle-laden lorries and trucks.
To avoid traffic congestions many city dwellers along with their family members left capital Dhaka earlier to go to their village home to celebrate the Eid-ul-Azha, but they remained stuck on Dhaka-Chittagong, Dhaka-Tangail highways, Daulatdia-Paturia and Shimulia-Kawrakandi ferry routes for hours due to such excessive flow of vehicles.
“I along with my family members am going to my village home in Kalia upazila of Narail district earlier only to avoid the gridlock. But we are still on the Dhaka Aricha highway as the traffic was almost at a standstill here,” a passenger told this reporter on Saturday afternoon.
Apart from numerous cracks and potholes on different roads and highways across the country, cattle-carrying trucks are also causing traffic jams on highways and roads.
Besides, strong current in the river Padma is also disrupting the ferry services on Paturia-Daulatdia and Shimulia-Kawrakandi routes.
On Dhaka-Tangail highway, around 35-kilometer long tailback was created on Dhaka-Tangail and Dhaka-Mymensingh highways since Friday night, inflicting immense sufferings to thousands of passengers.
When contacted Sahabul Alam, Sub-Inspector, of Mirzapur traffic police, said vehicular movement on Dhaka-Tangail and Dhaka-Mymensingh highways came to a halt due to numerous number of potholes and irregular car parking.
“Besides, when the engine of a rods-laden truck went out of order near Kaliakoir foot-over bridge on Friday midnight, the vehicular movement on these routes came to a halt. However, the truck was removed from the highway at 2am on Saturday. The sacrificial animals and goods laden trucks, covered vans, passenger buses got stranded due to the gridlock,” he said.
An official of highway police said as hundreds of cattle-carrying trucks are heading towards the capital and engines of many of them are going out of order on the roads, leading to traffic congestions.
On Dhaka-Aricha highway, as ferry service on Paturia-Daulatdia route is being disrupted due to strong current in the Padma river, about four hundred vehicles, including buses, goods and cattle laden trucks and cars, remained stranded along with several hundred passengers on both sides of the river.
Mohiuddin Russell, assistant manager, Aricha Ghat of Bangladesh Inland River Transport Corporation, said the strong current is disrupting ferry service.
“Out of 16 ferries, we are now operating 14 ferries on this route. But the ferries are moving very slowly due to the strong current. As a result, traffic was also disrupted on the highway from Savar to Paturia in Manikganj district,” he said.
Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader on Saturday claimed the journey towards home would be satisfactory, as the government is relentlessly working to repair the dilapidated roads across the country.
“Immediate repair of the roads will be done wherever it is required and the engineers and police will be on the road braving rain. If necessary I will be on the road during Eid day,” he said after distributing relief materials among the flood-affected people in Noakhali district.
He said no natural excuses such as rain and thunderstorm can stop the repair works of road ahead of the Eid and the government’s target is to help home goers to reach their home safely leaving behind all the excuses.
“70 percent repair works of the roads have already been completed and the roads will be completely usable well before the journey of the home-goers, final journey as I myself coordinating the repair works,” said Quader, also General Secretary of the ruling Awami League.
