Highway respite for holidaymakers

The mad rush to village homes is still there ahead of Eid celebrations, but the sufferings of holidaymakers have been reduced this year, thanks to a number of initiatives by the authorities concerned.

Bus drivers and passengers said they were still experiencing traffic jams during their long-distance journeys, but appreciated how highway congestions were now forming in fewer locations and were brief in duration compared to previous years.

“I came from Dinajpur. Although I did not find any huge traffic jam at any single place, there were [small] congestions near intersections at Savar, Chandra and Bogra,” said Rostam Ali, a bus driver of Hanif Enterprise.

Bus passengers told the Dhaka Tribune that buses were still failing to arrive at the terminals in time while the outbound traffic flow from Dhaka city was also slow; but apart from that, traffic jams were less frequent on the highways than other years.

The police authorities credited the improvement of the scenario to the dedication of thousands of policemen working round the clock to keep vehicles moving on the highways.

“We have deployed more than 5,000 policemen at 10 intersections of different highways around Dhaka. Community police and transport workers are also working with them to keep the traffic flow normal, even though there is a huge pressure of west-bound vehicles on the highways,” said Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) SM Mahfuzul Haque Nuruzzaman.

Talking to reporters at the Chandra intersection yesterday, the DIG said over 1,000 police are now working to control traffic on the Chandra-Tangail road, which saw huge gridlocks in the past few days.

Meanwhile, to ensure a smooth journey for holidaymakers, the Road Transport and Highways Division has opened a control room, which is operating round the clock with 67 officials on the roster.

The officials working at the control room are providing real-time decisions as soon as they are receiving reports of any problem on the highways, said the division’s Secretary MAN Siddique.

Dhaka exit points clogged

Even though reports suggested that the highways outside Dhaka remained relatively free this year, the exit points of the capital continued to stay clogged with heavy
traffic.

Just outside Dhaka, several points on the Dhaka-Sylhet and Dhaka-Chittagong highways experienced traffic tailbacks yesterday, while potholed roads further compounded sufferings for the passengers.

Our Narayanganj correspondent reports that a long tailback was formed near the Shimrail intersection.

When this report was filed at 2pm yesterday, the queue of moving vehicles had stretched as far as Signboard intersection from Madanpur on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway.

The Dhaka-Sylhet highway also saw increased pressure, with the tailback stretching up to the Rupshi area.

Mollah Taslimuddin, the on-duty traffic inspector at Shimrail, said: “Damaged roads are causing traffic to move slow at the eastern slope of Kanchpur Bridge, Madanpur and several places in Rupganj. Traffic jams are forming whenever wheels are getting stuck in the potholes.

“Around 60 personnel from the police, traffic police and highway police forces are working in two shifts to reduce traffic jam at Shimrail. Still they are struggling to cope with the pressure as rain has complicated the situation even further. However, there would not have been so much congestion if the road was free of potholes,” Taslimuddin added.

Meanwhile, AKM Shamsuddin Ahmed, Roads and Highways Division’s executive engineer for Narayanganj zone, told the Dhaka Tribune that they have already repaired the road at several locations, but rain had been hampering the work.

Alternative approach solves train delays

Although the railway system has been frequently blamed in the past for having erratic timetable during the Eid rush, improvements have now been made to ensure proper service to travellers.

Authorities said they have taken alternative approaches to tackle complications surrounding long-distance routes.

“We have cut the distances of Lalmoni Express [to Lalmonirhat] and Nilsagar Express [to Nilphamari] by at least 150km. It is helping us to maintain the train schedules. These trains had always faced delays in the last few years because of the long distance,” said Amzad Hossain, director general of Bangladesh Railway.

“These trains now turn back from Rangpur while two Demu trains then carry the passengers to their final destinations,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.

Meanwhile, most trains departed Kamalapur Railway Station on time yesterday, according to the station manager, Sitangshu Chattarjee. However, the Rangpur Express and the Rajshahi-bound Silk City Express faced one-hour delays.