UNB, Cumilla
Traffic chaos on Dhaka-Chattogram highway continued to cause sufferings to commuters as a 20-km tailback was created from Daudkandi Toll Plaza to Putia on Wednesday as in the past several days.
“I started my journey from Cumilla around 5 am and after 7 hours we only managed to reach Hasanpur in Daudkandi, a one-hour journey in a normal case.” said Shahjada Imran, a Dhaka-bound passenger.
Shahana Begum, an aggrieved passenger of a Dhaka-bound bus, said, “It’s very urgent to take some effective measures to solve the problem. The situation has become unbearable. We’ve been suffering a lot with our children.”
Contacted, DIG of Highway Police Atiqul Islam, said, “Sixteen goods-laden trucks went out of order on the highway on Tuesday, and some trucks became inoperative on Wednesday morning near Meghna and Ghumti bridges toll plaza…these incidents are slowing down the traffic movement.”
Road Transport and Highway department secretary Nazrul Islam said, “Tailbacks have not been created only for road condition, there are also other reasons. We repair roads instantly, even in case of a small problem.”
He said, “We’re working to identify the cause of the problem and several meetings have been held to find out a solution to it.”
Assistant Police Superintendent of Highway Police (Cumilla zone), Shafikul Islam said the vehicles coming through for lanes got stuck at the starting point of Daudkandi Bridge as it has only two lanes.
Pressure of goods-laden vehicles and slow movement of vehicles in toll plaza area also are worsening the situation, he said.
“We’ve been relentlessly trying to reduce the traffic gridlock,” he said.
A 110-km tailback was created on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway from Chouddagram on Friday night due to the ongoing work on the rail overpass at Fatehpur level crossing.
The traffic congestion eased to some extent at some points on the highway on Monday and Tuesday.
