The capital on Monday witnessed agonising traffic congestion because of traffic mismanagement, pre-Eid shopping rush and movement of very important personalities.
Passengers remained stranded for hours at almost all major city thoroughfares which were choked with traffic, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police traffic control room said.Vehicles remained stranded on roads for hours while traffic police struggled to ease tailbacks, witnesses said.
Huge traffic jam was found on all roads leading towards different shopping malls and in main intersections and arteries including Panthapath, Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue, Mirpur Road, Elephant Road, Mohakhali crossing, Moghbazar and Malibagh crossing, Inner Circular Road, Purana Paltan and Motijheel.
Besides the tailbacks, frequent movement of the important personalities, including the prime minister, also caused the traffic tangle in the busy hours.
On the day, prime minister’s movement towards her regular cabinet meeting at the secretariat at 11:00 hampered traffic movement.
Traffic congestion eased towards the evening, just before and after iftar, but the DMP traffic officials were seen busy due to another movement of the prime minister at about 7:45pm following iftar at Bangabhaban.
The alleyways near shopping centres were choked with traffic, particularly rickshaws and CNGs.
Both sides of Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue from the Shahbagh crossing in the south to the Jahangir Gate in the north were jam packed with traffic for several hours at noon, with vehicles inching towards their destination, said a traffic police on duty at Karwanbazar crossing.
It took three hours to reach Shahbagh from Mirpur-2, said Rummana Rashid, a university student.
Coupled with the heavy presence of vehicles on the roads which is usual for the month of Ramadan, the traffic department’s failure to keep the roads clear by bringing an end to roadside parking was the main reason behind the traffic gridlock, alleged passengers.
The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority officials said they issued registrations to at least 20,000 vehicles every year.
Over 7,45,953 lakh motorised vehicles including cars, jeeps, microbuses, taxicabs, CNGs, buses, minibuses, trucks and human haulers were registered with the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority in Dhaka until May 2013, according to BRTA statistics.
-With New Age input
