People going outdoors during a two-day break from the blockade enforced by the opposition alliance that kept Dhaka cut off and roads deserted and passengers travelling long-distance suffered because of tailbacks for hours on the first day of the weekends on Friday.
New Age correspondent in Comilla reported that several thousand passengers, including women and children, were caught in a 50-km tailback between Patuar Bazar and Daudkandi in Comilla since Friday early hours.
Daudkandi outpost officer Mizanur Rahman told New Age that because of dense fog vehicles on Dhaka-Chittagong highway ran slowly from 3:00am to 9:00am causing the traffic congestion.
After 4:00pm, the congestion became severe as huge number of long-route transports came out on the highway.
Ismail, driver of a Tisha Paribahan operating on Comilla-Dhaka route, said
that normally it took about three hours to go Dhaka from Comilla. ‘Today we are stuck for three hours at Chandina in Comilla,’ he said.
New Age correspondent in Manikganj reported that dense fog forced suspension of ferry and launch services on Paturia-Daulatdia route for 11 hours and a half causing sufferings to hundreds of passengers.
Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation manager (commerce) Mohi Uddin Rasel said that the ferry services were suspended between 10:00pm on Thursday and 9:30am on Friday due to dense fog.
Three Ro-Ro ferries Shah Jallal, Bir Shreestha Motiur Rhaman and Amanath Shah and one K-type ferry Kapoti with vehicles and passengers on board were forced to anchor in the mid-river during the suspension.
Several hundred vehicles including buses, microbuses, private cars and goods-laden trucks from Dhaka to south western districts were seen lined up at Paturia ghat in Manikganj and Daulatdia ghat in Rajbari.
New Age correspondent in Narayanganj reported that from Friday morning to afternoon a 60-km tailback stretching from Eliotganj in Comilla to Meghna Bridge at Sonargaon upazila in Narayanganj was seen.
Kanchpur highway police officer-in-charge Sohel Ahmed said that on Friday early hour a truck met an accident at Eliotganj causing the traffic jam.
After the police removed the truck at about 2:00pm, the situation started to become normal, he added.
Bus operators at Gabtoli terminal said that most of their buses on Chittagong-Dhaka, Jessore-Dhaka, Khulna-Dhaka, Kushtia-Dhaka and Kumarkhali-Dhaka routes had been stuck in traffic congestions at different points.
‘Our bus from Kushtia is expected to reach Dhaka after 10 hours from the scheduled time. Most of our buses from southern districts were late,’ said a Rojina Enterprise official.
Some operators said that they were forced to shut their afternoon services as only a handful buses came back to Dhaka because of congestions on different highways.
‘We will run some buses in the evening if the traffic congestion situation becomes normal,’ said a Shymoli Paribahan employee.
Courtesy of New Age
