bdnews24.com :
Road Transport Minister Obaidul Quader has described home travel ahead of the Eid as ‘challenging’ because of slow traffic and said he was unable to sleep on Thursday because of people’s suffering.
The minister said, the breakdown of unfit cattle trucks and inadequate police deployment had aggravated the situation. He claimed that none of the roads were in a bad shape though.
A sudden surge in traffic volume before holidays commencing for two major festivals – Eid-ul-Azha and Durga Puja – had resulted in severe gridlocks on the Dhaka-Tangail highway and at the Mawa ferry crossing.
Quader described the situation as pretty challenging during an inspection at Dhaka’s Sayedabad bus terminal on Friday.
“I find the situation challenging. It is challenging because vehicles carrying animals are very slow-moving. There are problems of enforcement in some places. Police are trying their best but many of them are engaged in Puja security work.”
He said, the crisis on the Dhaka-Tangail highway had been largely created because readymade garment factories had gone back on the understanding that they would announce holidays in three stages.
“Traffic had come to a standstill. Last night, vehicles had been stuck for three hours between Baipail and Mirzapur. I couldn’t sleep at night. There had been two accidents on that road in which one driver had died.”
He, however, insisted that roads were not in a bad shape anywhere. The Joydebpur-Mymensingh road which had been immensely criticised was “usable” and “passable”, he added.
He expressed regret that a large number of home-bound people, many of them travelling with children, had been badly inconvenienced.
About excess fare being charged by transport operators, he said they had promised not to do so, although the vehicles come virtually empty on their return journey.
“I will appeal to transport owners and workers not charge excess fare today and tomorrow,” he said.
He said, he would take up this matter in his next meeting with transport associations.
