Sagar Biswas :The capital city Dhaka experienced severe traffic congestion on Sunday from morning to late evening due to demonstrations by students of City College causing untold sufferings to the commuters.The overall traffic jam situation aggravated further as Bangladesh Road Transport Authority [BRTA] started operation of mobile courts in different parts of the city to haul unfit vehicles as well as drivers without license. At first, hundreds of students of City College – examinees of HSC this year – put blockade on one portion of Mirpur Road at about 9:45 am disrupting vehicular movement towards Asad Gate, Technical Crossing, Mirpur. The vehicular movement from Nilkhet to Kalabagan particularly remained stopped completely. Tremendous gridlock choked space of the other side of Mirpur Road [towards Azimpur and Shahabgh] and the commuters had to wait hours together inside their respective transports. The road blockade was going on till the time of filing of this report at 8:00 pm yesterday.”We have taken initiatives to change the exam venue by holding talks with Dhaka Board Controller and authorities concerned. At the same time, we have also asked the students to go back home and continue preparation for examination,” Md Shahjahan Khan, Principal of Dhaka City College, said. But the situation was deteriorating rapidly. Long tailback of vehicles was spreading to every roads leading to Science Laboratory crossing.Md Nur-e-Azam Mia, Officer in Charge of Dhanmondi Police Station told The New Nation last night, “The students came down on street demanding cancellation of examination centre at Residential Model College and put blockade on Dhanmondi Road -3. Later, the jam was expanded to other roads and lanes in the area.” “The number of agitating students is about 500 -600. Whereas, only 60 policemen were deployed in the area. The police did not apply force as students were continuing their protest in a peaceful way,” the OC said. The demonstrating students said that the newly fixed examination centre of Residential Model College at Mohammadpur is distant place for them. The students will have to suffer a lot due to the distance, and it will deteriorate performance of the examinees, they added. The students raised demand to re-fix the examination centre near City College, especially at Science Laboratory College. They also said the blockade would continue until their demand is fulfilled.
