Heavy traffic causes suffering across Dhaka

Severe traffic congestion disrupted movement across several major roads in the capital on Tuesday, causing delays and inconvenience for commuters.

Traffic had been moving slowly since morning, with congestion worsening towards noon on Mirpur Road, Asad Avenue, Begum Rokeya Sarani, Bijoy Sarani, Manik Mia Avenue and Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue.

The congestion coincided with the 48th founding anniversary celebrations of Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal, the youth wing of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

Party leaders and activists began heading towards Zia Udyan in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in small processions from the morning to attend the organisation’s pre-announced programme.

Many participants also arrived from areas surrounding Dhaka in pickup vans, minibuses and motorcycles. Vehicles were seen parked in rows along both sides of Manik Mia Avenue, adding to the pressure on nearby roads.

The large volume of vehicles, combined with the processions, further slowed traffic.

Rakibul Haque, who works at a private company in Farmgate, told he left home for work in his private car but eventually abandoned the vehicle and started walking after remaining stuck in front of the National Parliament building for a long time.

Another private-sector employee said a motorcycle journey from Karwan Bazar to Mohammadpur, which usually takes no more than 30 minutes, took over an hour on Tuesday.

Sadia Afrin, an employee of a private company in Tejgaon, said she was travelling from Bashundhara Residential Area to Karwan Bazar for work.

She said traffic remained blocked along the route from Banani, adding that the situation was worse than necessary because of disorder on the roads.

An official of another organisation said it had taken him an hour to travel from Sobhanbag to Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue.

Asked about the congestion, Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Traffic Division Assistant Commissioner Mohammad Omar Ali told that Jubo Dal had a programme on Lake Road, and the large gathering of party activists had caused traffic congestion since morning.

He said traffic police had tried to keep the situation as normal as possible.

Traffic began returning to normal from 2:00pm, he said, expressing hope that the situation would improve fully by the afternoon.