35-km traffic tail on Dhaka-Tangail highway

Commuters heading home ahead of the holy Eid-ul-Azha had to suffer through a 35km-long tailback on the Dhaka-Tangail-Bangbandhu Bridge Highway in the district on Saturday.

What began as usual snarls on the high-speed corridor late on Friday night turned into monster jams by this morning -- all due to a mad rush of vehicles carrying home-bound people and sacrificial animals ahead of the festival, reports UNB.

Ataur Rahman, in-charge of Elenga Highway Police, attributed the 35km-long tailback to some unruly motorists "who have scant regard for traffic rules". "The highway police and the district police are working jointly to bring the traffic situation under control.”

The tailback triggered jams on many internal roads of the district -- the stretch near Government Shamsul Haque College being one of the worst hit with some motorists trying to use it as an alternative route to reach their destinations.

At few other places, jams intensified as few motorists tried to reverse their vehicles to take internal roads to bypass some stretches of the highway.

Unable to bear the sweltering heat, many women got off vehicles with their babies on the highway. Roadside mosques allowed passengers to use their toilets while local residents offered drinking water to the travellers.

UNB Sirajganj Correspondent reports: A 15km-long gridlock was seen on the Bangabandhu Bridge Highway at Kaddar intersection, causing immense sufferings to the northern district-bound people a day before Eid.

The tailback stretched from Golchattar to Nalka Bridge, forcing vehicles to crawl on the highway.

Mosaddek Hossain, officer-in-charge of Bangabandhu Bridge West Police Station, said "the heavy pressure of vehicles and home-bound people are responsible for the tailback".

Law enforcers and volunteers have been working on the highway since morning to ease the gridlock, he added.

Though the Eid vacation began on Saturday, a large number of people left the capital on Friday itself taking advantage of the long weekend.